Demon's Triangle
by Nuwanda65
Summary: Follow up  Part 2  of 'And if I could change the Story' Story.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is Part 2 of my story 'And if we could change the story' (You'll need to read it first before starting this one.) **

**I entitled it 'Demons' Triangle' because I think it will fit more the upcoming events I imagined for Eli.**

**Hope you'll enjoy your reading. Comments and critics are always welcome of course.**

**Take care...**

Chapter 1

The trio arrives at a prefabricated wooden little Cafe at the end of a side road from the interstate.

"Don't forget the extra onions, huh?" Dean says to Eli, giving her some dollar bills before she leaves the car.

"Dude… We're the ones who's gonna have to ride in this car with your extra onions…" Sam complains, making her snicker.

"Oh and see if they got any pie…" The elder yells. She bends back to look at him, sighing in exasperation. "Please, Sweetie…" He softly adds, making puppy eyes. She rolls hers to the sky and follows Sam inside the Dinner.

.

Dean raises the volume of the car radio, tapping to the rhythm of the song on the steering wheel. All at once, it starts to make erratic noises. He leans forward, turning the frequency button, trying to get the channel back right again. But the radio now completely stops broadcasting. He looks behind him, thinking maybe something could come from the interstate, but nothing there. When he turns to face the Cafe again, he sees it strangely empty. Immediately sensing that something is wrong, he rushes out of his car to check the place.

With his gun armed and ready, he enters and he discovers a customer laying face down over a table, a pool of blood around him. "Sam?... Eli?..." He cautiously calls, moving slowly in the dinner. He finds two other bodies behind the counter, their throats slashed. He opens the back door that gives on a river and a wood. "Sam?... Eli?..." He calls again. His gaze on the door knob, he finds sulfur on it.

He rushes back to his car, still calling for them. His brother and Eli have completely vanished.

Sam is laying on his back on a rotten wooden pallet, Eli's head on his chest, both are unconscious.

He wakes up first and slowly starts to move. Feeling a weight on him, he looks down to see Eli. He delicately pushes her, making her softly mumbling. She finally opens her eyes, lifts her head and meets Sam's gaze.

"What happened?... Where are we?" She asks.

"I really don't know... Don't you remember anything?..." He helps her to get up.

"Huh... Huh..." Nodding her head in a 'no'. They look around them. "Looks like a ghost town…" She says.

He takes his phone out of his pocket. "No reception, Damned!" An old windmill groans a little further down the old road. "Let's check around." Sam proposes.

They're looking through every windows of the abandoned homes. They hear the sound of a door screeching on its hinges, coming from the hidden side of the last house. Sam grabs a wooden stick on its way to it, pushing slightly Eli behind him for cover. He stops at the end of the porch, ready to swing at anybody coming around the corner. He freezes just in time as he recognizes the guy in front of him. "Andy?"

"Sam?… What are you doing here?... What am I doing here?" The young man voices slightly terrified.

"You know that guy?" Eli asks.

"Where are we?"

"Andy, look… Calm down." Sam dropping his improvised weapon.

"I can't calm down… I've just woke up in frigging Frontierland!"

"What's the last thing you remember?" She questions.

"And who are you?" Andy still freaked out.

"Andy… Focus… What do you remember?" Sam insists.

"Honestly… My fourth bong load… It was weird… All of a sudden, there was this really intense smell, like…"

"Like sulfur?"

"How did you know that?"

"Dean…" Sam realizing that he was not with them.

"Your brother, is he here?"

"I don't know where he is… I don't know if he's even…" He cuts his sentence, looking at Eli.

.

A high pitched woman's scream and some knocking on a barn's door is resounding nearby. "Help me, please… I'm locked in here!" They all run to it.

"Hello? Okay… We're gonna get you out, all right?" Sam trying to calm her down. "Just hold on a second…" He spots a stone on the ground and bangs it a couple of time against the padlock. "Ava?" He says surprised when he opens the door.

"Sam?... Oh my God!" She jumps in his arms.

"So, I guess you know her too, huh…" Eli comes.

"Yeah…"

"How did you? I mean… How…" Ava stutters.

"Have you been here this whole time?" Sam asks her.

"What whole time? I just woke up half an hour ago…"

"Ava... You've been gone for five months… My brother and I have been looking for you everywhere…"

"Okay… That's impossible. I saw you two days ago…"

"You didn't… I'm sorry…"

"But, that makes no sense… It's… Oh my God! My fiancé, Brady… If I've been missing for that long, he must be totally freaked out… Did you talk to him?... Was he making research with you too?..." She babbles at the speed of a machine gun from the fear.

"Well…" Sam seems embarrassed, not knowing how to give her the news of Brady's death.

Ava suddenly spots the two other persons standing there. "Hey… I'm Andy… Also freaking out…" He slyly smiles.

"Eli…" She just raises a hand to say 'hi'.

"Okay… What's happening?" The young woman turning back to Sam.

"I don't really know yet… But, I know one thing… I know what the four of us have in common…"

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Another man's voice coming from another side of town.

"Maybe more than four then…" Sam starting to walk towards the newcomers. "Hey… Are you guys all right?" He voices seeing a tall black guy in an army gear and a young woman all dressed in black.

"I thing so…" The man talking first.

"I'm Sam… This is Eli, Ava and Andy..." Presenting the whole group.

"I'm Jake…"

"Lily…"

"Are there any more of you?" Sam asks.

"No… Not that we know of… You're the first we found…" Jake replies.

"How did we even get here? A minute ago, I was in San Diego…" Lily looking around her, arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, if it can make you feel any better, I went to sleep last night in Afghanistan…" Jake retorts.

"Let me take a wild guess… You too are both 23? We all are… And we all have abilities…" Sam comments.

"What?" The black guy asks.

"Started a little over a year ago… When you found you could do things… Things you didn't think were possible… I have vision… I see things before they happen…" He continues to explain.

"Yeah, me too… But more like dreams..." Ava says.

"I'm mind-traveling…" Eli says.

"And I can put thoughts into people's heads, make them do stuff... Oh, but don't worry, I don't think it works on you guys..." Andy approaches the two newcomers. "And get this... I've been practicing. Training my brain, like meditation, right? … Now, it's not just thoughts I can beam out, but images too. Like anything I want. It's like, Bam! People, they see it. This one guy I know, total dick... I use it on him... Gay porn, all hours of the day... You should have seen the look on his face..." Andy bursting into laughter, looking at the others, he finds them all just staring at him aback. "Okay..." He mouths.

"So, you go 'Simon says give me your wallet' and they do... Super!... You have visions. That's great!... And you mind-traveling. What a blast!... I'd kill for something like that..." Lily bursts out.

"Lily, listen... It's okay..." Sam trying to comfort her.

"NO, IT'S NOT!... I touch people and their hart stops!... I can barely leave my house... My life's not exactly improved since I have this... Curse... So, screw you!... I just wanna go home..."

"And what... You think that's not what we want too?..." The soldier barks.

"Don't you talk to me like that..."

"Or what?..."

"Hey!... Look, whether we like it or not, we're all here... And so we all have to deal with this..." Sam intervenes.

"But who brought us here?" Andy shyly asks.

"It's not a who... It's more of a what..." Sam turning towards Eli for a quick look.

"Okay... So, what brought us here?" Ava looking intrigued.

"A... Demon..." Eli whispers.

.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bobby opens a US map on the hood of the Impala and shows it to Dean. "This is it... All demonic signs and omens over the pass mouths..."

"You're joking!... There's nothing there!..." Dean's running his hand all over it.

"Exactly..."

"Come on... There's gotta be something... What about the normal, low-level stuff?... You know... Exorcisms, that kind of things?"

"That's what I'm telling you... There is nothing... It's completely quiet..."

"How we supposed to look for them? Do we just close our eyes and point at random?" Dean comes angrily when his phones starts to ring. "Hey Ash my man... Tell me, please, at least you got something?... I'm desperate here..."

"Okay, listen... It's a big negatory on them..."

"Come on... How is that even possible?... We're looking at a 3.5 millions square miles haystack here, man..."

"Listen, Dean... Maybe I did find something..." Ash suddenly starting to whisper.

"Well, what?" The Elder asks impatiently.

"I can't talk over this line..." He says mysteriously.

"I don't have time for this, Ash!... Really..."

"Well... Make time, okay!... Cause this... Not only does this almost definitely help you find Eli and Sam, this is... It's huge, Compadre... So get here... Right about... NOW!" And he hangs up.

"I guess we're going to the roadhouse..." Dean turning to Bobby, an uncomprehending look on his face.

.

"So, we're soldiers in a Demons war to bring the Apocalypse on earth?... That's what you're trying to make us believe?" Jake alleges.

"Sure when you put it like that... It sounds..." Sam starts.

"And we've been chosen?... Why us?" The soldier cuts him.

"I'm not sure... Okay? But look, I just know..."

"Sam, I'm sorry... Psychics and spoon-bending is one thing... But, Demons?" Ava coming in the conversation.

"I know it sounds crazy... And it probably is... But..."

"We don't really care what you all think about it... Okay?" Eli briskly intervenes. "If we're gathered here, that means it's starting... And we gotta be prepared for what's coming..."

"The only thing I gotta do, Missy, is stay away from whack jobs like all of you... I've heard enough nonsense for today... I'm better off on my own..." Jake pushing her aside, ready to leave the group.

"Jake... Hold on..." Sam trying to reason him.

.

Jake is going through the uninhabited streets, when he suddenly spots a little girl's face on a door window, half-hiding behind a curtain. She disappears when he approaches. He enters the house which seems to be the old village's school. "Hello?" He calls. He hears children laughs. "It's all right. Don't be scared... Are you lost?" He gently says, looking around. He perceives the sound of a chalk writing on a blackboard. The time he makes the two steps that separates him from the other room, the whole board is filled with the sentence 'I will not kill'. And again, the kids' laughter resounding.

All at once, he feels a cold wind brushing his back. He quickly turns around and faces the little girl he previously glimpsed at the window. She raises her hands in front of her, long claws growing instantly on the tip of each fingers and her face transforms into an ugly monster. "Get back!" Jake screams, putting a hand on his belt where normally hangs his handgun. He has a moment of panic, noticing it's not there and starts to back away from the beast.

At that moment , Sam enters, grabbing an iron firebrand in a corner and slamming it through the little girl who instantly disappears into smoke. "Just so you know... That was a Demon..." He says to Jake.

"I'm not sure, but I think that that thing was an Acheri... A Demon that disguises itself as a little girl..." Eli explains to the stunned group that just witness the scene.

"Yep... But it still doesn't tell us where we are..." Sam adds disappointed. "Hey, are you with us or what?..." He turns to Andy.

"Give me a minute... I'm still working through 'Demons are real'..." The young man answers, staring into space.

.

"At least the Acheri episode made them realize that we're not that crazy... And are now ready to help us..." Eli says to Sam, looking to the whole group searching around anything that might help them to locate the place.

"Wait... I've seen that bell before..." He suddenly comes.

"It doesn't ring any bell to me..." She answers in a laugh.

"Oh please... Don't tell me you picked up Dean's sense of humor!"

"Sorry... I'm slightly on edge... Thought that would loosen me up a bit..."

He comes closer to her, putting his hands on her arms. "Hey... It's gonna be all right... We'll find something... We'll find a way out..." Ava knocks on the bell, making Sam gaze rise. "I think I know where we are..."

"Really?" Eli says.

"Cold oak, South Dakota..."

"The 'most haunted town in the US' Cold oak?..."

"Yep... So haunted that every single resident fled from fear... And never came back..."

"Swell!... Good to know we're somewhere so historical..." Ava comes sarcastically, as the others are coming back from their inspection when they heard the sound of the bell.

"Why in the world would that Demon, or whatever you call it, put us here?" Lily asks.

"I was wondering the same thing... What does it finds so special in this place?..." Sam ponders.

"You know what? Doesn't matter... The only sane thing to do, is get out of here..."

"Hold on, Lily... The only way out is through miles of woods..."

"Beats hanging out with Demons to me..."

"Look... We don't know what's going on or even how many of them are out there right now..." Eli gently comes.

"Yeah, they're both right on that... We should just..." Jakes adds.

"Don't say 'we'!... I'm not part of a 'we' thing!... I have nothing in common with any of you!... You don't know anything!... I accidentally touch my girlfriend and she frigging died!..." Lily becoming more and more angry.

"I'm sorry..." Sam says.

"Whatever... I feel like I'm in a nightmare and it just keeps getting worse and worse..."

"Hey... I've lost people too... I have a brother out there somewhere... He could be dead, for all I know..." He gives a quick look to Eli. "We're all in a bad shape... But, I think the best way out of this is to stick together for now..."

"Oh Dear... Okay... Fine..." She finally whispers.

.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"We're looking for iron, silver, salt and any kind of weapon." Sam requests to the whole group.

"Salt is a weapon?" Jake asks astonished.

"It's a brave new world, my friend..."

"Well, hopefully there's food in your world... Because, I'm frigging starving..." Andy tapping on his belly.

When the others enter the first house to search, Lily stays behind.

As soon as she is sure that no one can see her, she runs away to the woods.

She follows a path through the trees. All at once, the wind becomes stronger and branches making screeching noises around her. She quickens her steps when she hears an echo of children laughing.

.

Sam finds a rusty knife in a old wooden box and puts it in his belt. "Hey... You all right?" He asks Ava when he sees her massaging her temples.

"Yeah... I'm just... I don't know, I feel a little dizzy..."

"Are you sure it's not some kind of?..."

"Freaky vision thing?... No, more like I'd kill for a sandwich... I haven't eaten since... Well, who knows... But, don't worry, I'll be fine in a minute..."

"You guys? I found something..." Andy calls, coming out of the kitchen, proudly showing two huge bags of salt he found.

"That great, Andy! Now, we all can... Wait a minute... Where's Lily?" Sam says.

They all rushing out at the noise of a slamming trapdoor.

Eli arrives first at the corner of the street. She lets out a high pitch scream at the sight of Lily hanging by the neck above the windmill. Sam catches her in his arms when she starts to run away from the scene. She buries her face in his shoulder not to let out another yell out.

"Oh my God!... You said we were chosen for a reason... That is not chosen... That is been killed!" Ava states in a panicking tone.

"Guys, we have to get out of here..." Andy surrounding his body with his own arms.

"Not sure that's an option... Lily was trying to leave... That thing won't let us get away that easy... We gotta gear up for the next attack..." Jake explains.  
>"Gear up?... Okay, well, I'm not a soldier... I can't do that!..." Ava claims.<p>

"Look, if you wanna stay alive, you're gonna have to... You all go back to the house..." Sam orders.

"I'll get her down..." The soldier proposes, going for the windmill.

Sam and Eli are staying behind. "Hey... Are you okay?" He gently asks her, brushing away some locks from her face.

"Yeah... I think so..."

"Sure?... I never saw you so freaked out before..."

"It's the hanging thing... Since Owen... It's kinda hard for me..."

"I imagine..." He hugs her again, giving a last look at that poor Lily still swaying at the end of the rope.

.

Back in the house that they choose suitable to protect them from any Demon attacks, they all start to prepare for the night.

"You know, I'm just thinking about how much Dean would help right now... I'd give my arm for a working phone..." Sam tells Andy.

"Maybe, you may not need one... I mean, I've never tried it long distance before... But do you have anything of Dean's on you? Like something he touched?" Andy asks.

Sam rummages through his pockets. "I get a receipt... Will that work?"

"Nan... To random... And other people have touch it too... The cashier, you... Message could get lost in other people's minds..."

"I'm wearing his T-shirt..." Eli coming closer.

"That might work..."

"Or can't you use my mind-travel thing to help you spreading your message?... Wouldn't that help?... Since we're here, I feel like our abilities are getting stronger... Don't you?..."

"Waouw! Abilities working group like?... I don't know..."

"We don't have anything to loose, right?... So, let's try this..." Sam already emptying the table for Eli to lay down.

.

Dean and Bobby, arriving at the roadhouse, find it burned to the ground, some parts still smoking. "What the hell?" Dean murmurs.

They are looking around the ruins, finding here and there burn to death bodies. "Dear God..." Bobby lets out, a hand over his mouth.

"Did you find Ellen yet?" The youngest asks him.

"No... And no Ash either..."

All of a sudden, Dean bends down in a corner and recognises Ash's watch, hanging on his carbonised wrist. "Oh Ash! Damn it!"

"This is..." Bobby cannot find the words to finish his sentence in front of the horror surrounding them.

.

They go back near their car. "What the hell did Ash found? We got no way of knowing where Ellen is or if she's even alive... We got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us... Now, how are we gonna find Eli and Sam?" Dean slightly irritated.

"We'll find them... We always find a way..." Bobby trying to calm him down.

"How?... We have nothing, nada, ziltch... Not the slightest clue... Son of a bitch!..." He kicks in one of the tires of his car, when suddenly, he cowers from pain, holding his head between his hands.

"Dean?..." Bobby coming to him.

"Damned!" He says, rising up again.

"What?"

"Eli..." He starts, but another searing headache is making him bend over the hood of the car.

"What was that?" Bobby asks concerned.

"I don't know... A sudden headache..." He winces.

"You already got headaches like that before?"

"No... Must be from too much stress, I guess... But, could have swore I felt something..."

"Felt something?... Like what?"

"It was more like a smell... No, it must be just my imagination..."

"Try me... What was that smell?"

"It sells like Eli's perfume..."

.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bobby looks stunned to Dean. "So just now, out of the blue, Eli's perfume is giving you headaches?..."

"Don't be silly... I said it was like I sensed her perfume... And it came with an image too..."

"An image? Like a vision? Like what Sam gets?"

"What? No... Come on, I'm not some psychic... Two is enough in this family, don't you think..." He tries to joke.

"Yeah, but since they are... Maybe, you know... As she already did her thing with you before, right?... Like at the hospital..."

"I don't reme... Damned!" He gets another seizure, making him fall on the ground this time.

"Dean? Are you with me?" Bobby taking him in his arms and helping him to get up on his feet.

"Yeah... I think so... I saw Sam... I saw him, Bobby..."

"So, it was a vision..."

"No, more like Eli sending me snap images of what she sees... But, that was as fun as getting kicked in the jewels, if you ask me... I'll tell her to time off the intensity next time..." Dean complains, rubbing his temples.

"What else did you see? Or what did she send you?"

"Hum... I think there was a bell..."

"What kind of bell?"

"Like a big bell with some kind of engraving on it... I don't know... And Dakota written on the ground..."

"Engraved bell and Dakota..." Bobby repeats over and over, starting to pace around.

"There was a tree on it..."

"A tree? Was it an oak tree?"

"Yeah, exactly..."

"Son... I think I know where they are..." Bobby finally says in a smile.

.

Jake and Sam are trying to recuperate some iron bars from an old rusty tractor. Sam grabs a sledgehammer, but Jake stops his move. He takes one of the spokes with his bare hands and effortlessly pulls it out of the wheel. "Hey, don't look at me like I was Superman or something… It's no big deal..." He comes nearly apologizing.

"You were in Afghanistan when it started, huh?"

"First I got heavy headaches and then there was this accident I witness. A guy flipped his vehicle on a bad road. He got pinned underneath… I lifted it off like it was nothing… Everybody said it was a fluke of adrenaline or something…" Jake explains.

"But then you did it again, right?"

"Bench-pressed four hundred kilos stone-cold calm…" He lightly laughs. "I never told anybody… It was just too crazy… By the way, I appreciate what you're doing here…"

"What am I doing?"

"Keeping calm… Keeping them calm… Especially considering how freaked the hell you really are… Don't fool me, I know the look…"

"You know, I have this brother… He's always telling me how he's gonna watch out for me, how everything's gonna be all right… Just like I'm telling them…" Sam lowering his gaze on the floor. "I just don't know if I believe in it this time… This is bigger than anything I've ever seen before… It's gonna get bad and I don't know if…"

"If we're gonna make it?..." Jake gently cuts him. "Doesn't matter if we believe it… Only matters that they do…"

.

In the house they choose as headquarter, Eli is giving the two others their tasks. "Andy? You salt every windows and door you find in this place… Even in the attic... The line must be continued, with no holes… But not too thick either to be sure we'll have enough of it…"

"Okay…" He takes the first bag and starts with the windows and doors of the upper floor.

"Ava?... Are you all right?" She's coming closer to her, seeing her sitting next to the table, her gaze on the floor.

"My horoscope said I shouldn't have gotten out of bed…" Ava softly says.

"Yeah! I've stop reading that crap a long time ago…" Eli laughs.

"How can you do that?"

"What? Stop reading my future in stupid magazines?"

"No… This… Fighting against Demons?... How are you not totally hysterical about it?"

Eli sighs, sitting on the chair in front of Ava. "By getting use to it, I guess… Not being alone to face it, maybe… But, don't hear me wrong… I'm still scared… Not knowing why we are right now? What does it want from us? Feeling like a freak for almost a year… Not able to have a decent relationship… Believe me, I'm barely holding it together sometimes..."

"Oh… You and Sam are…"

"No… Sam and I are just friends…" She suddenly lowers her gaze to avoid Ava to see her sudden discomfort.

"You know, I also have questions in my head going over and over… Why us? What did we do to deserve this?..."

"I wish I could give you any clues on that… Really, I wish I had…" Eli taking Ava's hand in her.

"I just can't wait for this all to be over… So, I can pretend it never happened… I just wanna curl up with Brady and watch bad TV…" She sobs.

Sam enters the room at that moment, looking at both women. "About your fiancé…" He starts.

"What about him?... Do you know something that I don't?"

He approaches the table. "Eli would you mind?.."

"Oh, sure… I'll check on Andy…" Directly understanding he'll need a moment alone with Ava.

"Look, Ava… I wish I didn't have to tell you this…" He takes her gently by the shoulders. "When the Demon broke into your house to take you… Brady didn't make it… I'm sorry…"

"No… It's…" He grabs her in an embrace when she starts to cry.

.

At nightfall, Jake is the first to take watch at the entrance door, an iron bar in his hand as only weapon. Sam is sitting next to the window at the opposite side, too nervous to sleep. Andy is slumbering with his head rested on his arms at the table. Eli is crawled up in a rocking chair in a corner of the room. And Ava, her back towards everybody, is sitting on a chair, watching imaginary spots on the wall, her thoughts far away.

A few hours later, Sam's eyes are slowly starting to close. After a last attempt to fight to stay awake, he finally sinks in.

Some noise is making him blench. The Yellow-Eyed Demon is standing in the entrance door. "Jake, behind you!..." He yells, but the soldier doesn't make any move, like he's totally unaware of what is now happening.

"Howdy, Sam…" The Demon grinds, approaching him.

"Oh, I got it... You are in my dreams…" Sam whispers.

"I have different ways to communicate... What do you say, you and I have a little walk outside, huh?..."

Sam follows him, closing his jacket as he feels the cold of the night going through through the fabric of his t-shirt.

.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sam and the Yellow-eyed Demon are walking through the ghost-town's main road. "You're awfully quiet, Sam… You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I'm gonna tear you to shreds, I swear…" Sam mumbling between his teeth from anger.

"When you wake up, Tiger, you'll give it your best shot!"

"Where's my brother?"

"Quit worrying about Dean… I'd worry more about you and our future together…"

"What? You're not gonna kill me?"

"No… I don't want you to die... I'm just trying to help you… That's why we're talking… You are the ones I'm counting on…"

"The ones?... What's that suppose to mean?"

The Demon turns around to face the house again, when Eli comes towards them. "Is she dreaming too?" Sam asks, but he was vanished.

"Sam… What's going on?... I heard you screaming…" She says, running to him.

"Go back in the house!..." Sam tries to warned her.

"Howdy, my little Princess…" The Demon whispers in her ear, reappearing behind her. She jumps in surprise. Sam's grabbing her in his arms to get her out of his reach. "Look at you... Aren't you the sweetest match?…" He smirks.

"Aren't you the next one way ticket to Hell?..." She rages, making him laugh out loud.

"That was a good one, Pumpkin!… Okay… Let's give your ignorant faces some input…" He walks away a few steps and opens his arms wide, like he would start to talk to a TV show audience. "Ladies and Gentlemen… Welcome to the wonderful world of... 'Who will be King & Queen of the new Kingdom'! Contest..." He suddenly turns around to face them again. "Why do you think you're here, huh?... Because, this is a competition… Only one of each kind of you crazy kids is gonna make it out of here alive…" He sadistically explains.

"I thought we were supposed to be…" Sam starts.

"Soldiers in a upcoming war?... That's what I made you all believe… But, here's the thing, I don't need soldiers… I already have them… What I need is a Royal family… That is what will lead my army to victory... That's why it must be the best of each species… I need the five Stars Generals!... And that is you, my lovely sons of a bitches!... Honestly, I'm surprised you hadn't guessed yet… I mean, why do you think so many children flamed out already?... They just weren't strong enough… I'm looking for the best and brightest of your generation."

"Our generation?" Eli questions.

"Well, there are other generations, but let's just worry about yours for now… That's why I'm here… I wanna give you the inside track… You're both tough, smart, well trained… Thanks to Sammy's Daddy… And that's why you're my favorites!" The Demon petting an arm of each one.

"You ruined our lives!..." Sam making them do two steps back, away from him. "You killed everyone we loved!"

"The cost of doing business, I'm afraid… I mean sweet little Jessica? She just had to die… Sam, you were all set to marry that little blond thing… You, becoming a Tax Lawyer with two kids, a dog and a Mansion in the suburbs!... Come on!... I needed you sharp, on the road, knowing your skills, your gifts..."

"So, at the bar... That thing in you said the truth..." Eli stutters to Sam, tears slowly forming in her eyes (_note: See Chapter 71 of my previous story_).

"Exactly!... You really though he was lying to you, Eli?..." The Demon coming closer to her again.

"What about Dean?" She manages to say.

"Dean here... Dean there... Damned! What a pain in my ass is that frigging insect!... That thing between you was not suppose to happen..." He starts to bawl, marching into circles and making brisk movement with his hands. And then, suddenly stops and takes some deep breathes to calm down. "He is a none significant asset... So, whatever... And maybe, he can still be of some use too... But, my little advise to close the subject... Start to take your distances from him, Honey Bunny... You never know... Accidents happens sometimes so unexpectedly..." He fiendishly grins.

"You SOAB!... And what's the story of our Mom's, huh?" Sam now wanting to know the whole truth.

"For your Mother, Sam... That was just bad luck…"

"Bad luck?"

"She walked in on us… Wrong place, wrong time…" The Demon shrugs.

"What?" Sam angrily yells, ready to jump on his throat.

"Okay… Okay…" Putting his hands in front of him to stop the young man. "You caught me in a charitable mood… I'll explain… When I was bending above your crib, your Mom walked in the room… She saw me giving you my blood… Oh, just a few drops, but so much better than mother's milk!…"

"You mean I have Demon blood in me?"

The Demon just laughs. "So, I couldn't let her alive… The 'no witness policy' applied, I'm afraid… Since she knew, I…"

"You mean she knew you…" Sam briskly cuts him.

The Demon laughs again and turns towards Eli. "Concerning your mother, Sweetie... That was another story..."

.

"Sam!... Sam!...Wake up!..." Jake shaking him energetically. "Ava's missing..." He adds ones he was sure to have his full attention.

Sam looks around the place a little bit lost. He spots Eli still in her rocking-chair.

"What?" The soldier asks him astonished.

"I felt asleep...?"

"Yeah... And?..."

"Hum... Nothing... Sorry... Let see what happened to Ava."

.

Eli, Jake and Sam are starting to look for her, leaving Andy alone to watch the house.

"I'll take the barn and the left street… Sam you check the Hotel, the Grocery store and the school… Eli the houses on the right side…" Jake's taking the lead.

"All right, we'll meet back here every 10 minutes, okay?" Sam looking at Eli.

As they split, Ava comes out of the dark behind their so called 'headquarters's house'. Andy is checking once more all the salt lines around. Finishing his round with the first floor windows, he sees Ava breaking one of them. "Where did you go? They are all looking for you... Didn't you hear them yelling after you?" He asks her a bit confused.

"Yeah, I heard them… I needed you to split..." She quietly answers, putting her fingers on her temples. All at once, a black smoke makes his way through the little space she made in the salt.

"What are you doing?... What is happening?..." Andy slowly moving back to the door.

The black smoke turns itself into the monstrous little girl. "Holy!" Andy yells as it jumps on him, plowing his chest into pieces with her claws. Ava is watching the scene without fluttering. It's only when she was sure he was dead that she starts to scream for help.

In town, each one suddenly raises their head at the yelling.

.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sam is the first one to hear Ava's call and rushes back to the house. He finds Andy laying on the floor in a pond of blood.

"Sam, I found him like this…" She weeps.

"What happened?"

"I don't know… I don't know..."

"How could that thing get in?... And where were you?" He asks her, while checking the salt lines.

"I just went to get some water from the well… I was only gone maybe like two minutes…"

"You shouldn't have gone outside alone, Ava... For our safety, we have to stay in here and watch out for each other…" He approaches her and spots the salt line breach on the window behind her. "Who did that?" He briskly asks her.

"I don't know… Maybe Andy…" She says uncertain.

"Andy wouldn't do that!… And that line wasn't broken when I left!... I'd swear to it!" Looking dagger at her.

"What? You don't think that I could have something to do with this?..."

"I'll tell you what I think… Five months. That's a very long time... Ava, you are the only one with all that time you can't account for. And that headache you got earlier, right when the Demon got Lily… Weird coincidence, if you ask me..."

"What are you trying to say?" She makes two steps away from him.

"What happened to you, Ava?"

"NOTHING!…" She barks as Sam continues to have that insisting look. Then, slowly, her face changes and she starts to grind. "Had you going through for a moment, didn't I?... Yeah, I've been here all this time… And not alone either… People just keep showing up. Children like us… Batches of three or four at the time." She explains emotionless, starting to contemplate her finger nails.

"You killed them?... All of them?..."

"I'm the undefeated heavy weight champ!... And I will be your Queen soon… Just one step away..." She adds in a languorous tone.

"Oh my God!... Eli?... Don't you dare touching a single one of her hair!"

"I don't think God has much to do with this, Sam… But, she needs to die... I'm sorry..." She whispers, approaching him.

"How can you still looking at yourself?"

"I had no other choice… It was us or them… I did it for you, Sam!... Well, at least, a part off... And you know, after a while, it starts to get easier and easier… And kind of fun too, knowing the reward I would get… I just stop to fight the urge…"

"Fighting what?"

"Who we are, Sam… Who we will become soon… If you could just open yourself up to it… You have no idea what you can do… The learning process is so fast, it's crazy. The switches that just flip in your brain…" She suddenly laughs. "I can't believe I started out just having dreams… Do you know what I can do now?"

"Control Demons…"

"Ouuhhh… Are you a smart one!... Makes me like you even more…" She puts her fingers on her temples again, the black smoke directly appearing… "I'm sorry, Sam… But, I have to do this…"

Sam prepares to swing the iron bar he has in his hands, but the Demon just passes by him, going to the door where Eli now stands. He doesn't have the time to warn her as Jake, coming out of nowhere, jumps on Ava, putting an arm around her neck. With a brisk movement he breaks her neck, making the smoke disappear instantly.

.

Bobby and Dean are parking the car on the end of a side road. "It looks like the rest of the way will be on foot." Bobby comes as he looks down at the river beneath, no nearby bridge to be found.

They pack some gears out of the trunk. "Let's go… We've no time to waste… There's another 10 miles to go..." Dean throwing his duffel on his shoulder.

.

"I think we can make it out of here now…" Sam says, holding Eli's hand.

"But what about the Acheri Demon?… Aren't we gonna kill it?..." Jake asks.

"No risk that it appears again… Ava was controlling it… Come on... We gotta go…"

"Oh... Not we, Sam…" The soldier's suddenly standing in front of them, blocking the way. "I know the rules too… Only one of each kind is getting out of here alive… I'm sorry…"

"What?"

"That Yellow-eyed Demon came in my dreams talking to me. He told me how it was…"

"No, Jake… You can't believe what he says…"

"Sam… He's not letting us go… If we don't play along… He'll kill us all…"

"I'm not going with you…" Eli says when Jake takes her by the arm.

"It's only for your protection…"

"I'll feel much safer with Sam!..." She flings, trying to get rid of his grip.

Jake turns to face Sam. "Now, I like you man… I really do… You're a good guy... But do the math here. What good it does for both of us to die?... If I can get out of here, I can get close to the Demon… And I think I can kill the bastard…"

"Why do you need me for then?" She asks.

"Because it's the rule… To approach him, we need to make him believe that we are united…"

"Man, stop this nonsense and come with us, we'll kill him together…" Sam still trying to make him change his mind.

"What guarantee do I have to know you won't turn on me?"

"We won't…"

"I don't know that… I don't know you…"

"Okay… Look…" Sam delicately takes the knife from his belt and puts it on the ground. "Just come with us, Jake… Don't do this… Don't play in his game…"

After some thinking, Jake finally drops his iron bar and releases Eli from his hold.

"Okay…" Sam sighs, relieved. But, the soldier punches him on his jaw, making him fly ten meters away.

"Sam!" Eli yells, before Jake knocks her out in just one blow. He throws her on his shoulder like she was a vulgar sack of spuds. He starts to make his way to the woods when he receives a hard knock in his back. He falls on his knees, letting Eli drop in the process. Sam's still holding the iron bar in the air ready to swing a second time, but Jake gives him an unexpected kick in the shinbone. A hard fight starts, blows raining down both sides. Till finally Sam slowly overcomes the soldier, knocking him down with the iron bar that he could catch again while on the ground.

.

"Sam?... Eli?..." He hears, catching back his breath little by little. He directly recognizes his brother's voice. Turning around, he sees Dean and Bobby arriving in a distance.

"Thank God!..." He arrives to mouth, holding his dislocated shoulder from the fight.

"Sam... LOOK OUT!..." Dean yells when he sees Jake rising from behind and violently sticking a knife right through his spine.

Hastily, he puts the still unconscious Eli on his back again and runs for the woods.

Sam slowly falls on his knees, his eyes wide open in a wondering look. Dean catches him before he collapses on the ground, while Bobby goes after the soldier and Eli. "Oh Dear... Sam... Sammy... Hey, come here... You're okay Champ... I got you..." He takes him in his arms. Putting a hand on his wound, it was immediately entirely covered with blood. "Hey, look at me... It's not even that bad... Sammy?... Listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay... You'll be good as new... I'm gonna take care of you..." He softly shakes his brother's head, giving him small pats to wake him up. But, Sam just stays inert, like a rag doll in his arms, eyes wide open.

Dean quickly understands that his poor brother is dead.

.

As daylight slowly starts to dim, a loud scream of pain resounds all around the ghost-town.

.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dean puts down his brother on a old mattress in one of the abandoned houses. He leans against the door frame, staring at him, his eyes filled with tears.

"Dean?... I brought you this back..." Bobby calls him from the other room, putting a bucket of chicken wings on the table.

"No thanks... I'm not hungry..." He sadly whispers.

"You should eat something... Getting some strength to save Eli from that guy..."

"I said, I'm fine..." He grabs the bottle of whiskey instead, engulfing nearly half of it at once.

"I hate to bring this up... I really do... But don't you think maybe we should bury Sam?" Bobby says as carefully and gently as possible.

Dean looks dagger at him. "No..." He just answers.

"Well, we could maybe..."

"What, torch his corpse?... Not yet..." He cuts, letting himself fall on a chair.

"I'd like you to come with me and get my daughter back..."

"I'm not going anywhere..."

"Dean... Don't you..."

"Would you cut me some slack?... You go... I stay right here..."

"I gotta admit, I could use your help... Something big is going down... End of the world big... And Eli is somewhere in the middle of it... Ready to be sacrificed for some dark Apocalyptic means... Who knows..." Bobby trying to reason him.

"WELL, LET IT END!... LET IT ALL HAPPEN!" The young man yells.

"You don't mean that..."

Dean rises from his chair to face Bobby in the eyes. "You don't think so?... You don't think I've given enough already?... You don't think I've paid enough?..." Pointing a finger to his dead brother.

"I though you and her... That you had..."

"That was a mistake..."

"Careful, son... You're talking about my girl here..." Bobby slowly clenching his fists.

Dean heavily sights. "I'm sorry... But, seriously we never should have... Come on, Bobby... You know the odds to have a normal relationship the way we live..."

"Your Dad did... At least, before your mom..." He lowers his gaze. "And I know some couples that are hunting together..." He continues to avoid the delicate matter that is the lost of Mary Winchester.

"We are doomed, Bobby... We are carrying too much... And honestly, I think I'm toxic to anyone..."

"Dean... Don't be so hard on yourself..." The old man really feels for the young man, him he considers like his own son.

"It's final... I'm done with it... All of it... I'm sorry... So, you turn around and get the hell out of here..." He starts to push the old man away. "Go!... Please leave..."

"Fine... I'll give you some space... To think it through... And when you'll feel it, you know where I'll be... I'll keep you updated if I find anything..." He says, but Dean does not listen anymore. He finally leaves the house.

As the older Winchester is now alone in the room, he finally lets out the tears he was holding.

.

Deep in the woods, Jake has build a survival camp, just as he was taught in the Army. A fire surrounded by stones, a hand made shelter with two ropes and an old blanket and a some traps here and there around the perimeter to protect them from any wild animals.

Eli is tied up on a tree next to the fire to keep her warm. The soldier, in front of her, is leaning against a trunk, slowly starting to fall asleep. He suddenly wakes up again. The Yellow-Eyed Demon sitting between them.

"Howdy..."

"I'm dreaming again, am I?" Jake directly jumping on his feet.

"No, Jake, you're not dreaming... I see him too..." Eli hurls at the soldier.

"I got a genius on my hands... Brilliant!" The Demon whispers. "Well congratulations to both of you... You're it... My Royal couple."

"What?... Sam is dead?... You killed him, you Son of a... Wait till I got my hands on you!... I will cut you in piece and let you rot in the open..." She mumbles between her teeth, looking dagger at Jake.

"Houhouhou..." The Demon smirks. "That's promises to turn out ugly... Easy, Sweetie... You will have all the time in the world to let out all that anger of yours... Be patient..." He turns towards Jake. "I have to admit... You wasn't the horse I was betting on at first... But still, fair is fair, I gotta give it to you."

"Go to hell..." He breathers out.

"Been there... Done that..." The Demon sneers.

"Everything you put us through... Dragging me to that place, making me kill those people..."

"All part of the competition... Jake, I needed the strongest and the smartest... And I got it with both of you..."

"Need us for what?"

"Oh, I got a huge list of tasty things for you in store..."

"The only thing I'm gonna do is wake up, hunt you down and kill you myself..." Jake angrily says.

"You know, others have already tried... Isn't it Eli?..." The Demon softly laughs. "It's not easy... Trust me... And look, I'm still here, right?... You wanna be good little soldiers here?..."

"I thought you didn't need soldiers..." Eli wryly voices.

"Don't play smartass with me, young lady... I can still change my mind and get rid of you!..." The Demon raising his hand as a threat.

"And if we don't wanna play your game..." Jake cuts to take his attention away from her.

"Well, your families... What's left over anyways... Your friends... All your loved ones... I'll make certain that they will live long enough to know the chewy taste of their own intestines... And I'm not bluffing... Eli can tell you what I'm capable of..."

"What do you want us do to?" The soldier finally asks.

.

Dean is still sitting next to his brother's corpse, gently talking to him. "I had one job to do, that was to protect you, keep you safe... Just that simple job... And I screwed it up... I completely blew it... And for that, I'm sorry... Agh, I guess that's what I do... I let down the people I love... I let Dad down... I let you down... I'm about to let Eli and Bobby down too now... How can I let that all happen?... Am I suppose to continue to live with that?... Both of you gone?... What am I suppose to do, huh?... What?" He bursts into tears again.

As he finally calms down, he grabs his jacket and his car keys and leave the house.

He drives like a mad man along the dark and empty road.

.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A couple of hours later, Dean stops at a crossroad in the middle of nowhere. He takes a little metal box from the trunk, puts some old coins in there and different objects belonging to him (A talisman's bag and one of his own picture). He digs a hole in the exact center of the crossroad and buried the box in it. He then waits, looking at each end of the four roads. "Oh, come on already..." He says impatiently. "You show your face, you bitch!..." He finishes to yell.

"Easy, Sugar... You'll wake up the neighbors..." A woman's voice coming from behind him.

He turns around to face a beautiful woman dressed in a shiny red cocktail dress.

"Dean Winchester..." She gently smiles. "It is so, so good to see you... I mean it... Look at you... Now lost his whole family... All alone in the world... It's too sweet... Excuse-me, you're gonna have to give me a moment... Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the roses..." She grins, talking near his ear.

"I should send you straight back to hell..."

"Oh, you should... But, you won't... And I know why..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Following in Daddy's footsteps. You wanna make a deal... Little Sammy, back from the dead... And, let me guess... After ten years, you're offering up you own soul, am I right?..."

"There are hundreds other Demons who'd love to get their hands on it... And it's all yours... All you gotta do is bring Sam back... And ten years later my bill comes due... You come and get me..."

"You must be kidding me..." She mocks him.

"It's the same deal you give everybody else..."

"You're not everybody else, Dean... Why would I wanna give you anything?... Keep your gutter soul, it's too tarnished anyway." She looks languorously to him.

"Nine years..."

"No..."

"Eight..."

"You keep going, I'll keep saying no..."

"Okay, five years... That's my last offer... Five years or no deal..."

She approaches him, ready to give him the kiss that normally closes the contract, but at the last inch she stops. "Then no deal..." She just whispers.

"Fine..." Dean murmurs.

"Fine..." She echoes. "Make sure you bury Sam before he starts stinking up the joint." She smirks, going back her way up the road.

"Wait..." He calls her back.

"Is it the Spring's Sale already?..." She says to herself.

"What do I have to do?" He pleads her.

"First of all, quit begging... Needy guys are such a turnoff... Look... I shouldn't be going this... I could get in a lot of trouble, you know... But what can I say? I got a blind-spot for you, Dean... You're like one of those puppies... You're just to fun to play with... Okay... I'll do it!"

"You'll bring him back?"

"I will... And because I'm just such a Saint, I'll give you one year and one year only... But, there's the thing... If you try and welsh or weasel your way out, then the deal is off... Sam drops dead... He's back to rotten meat in no time... And, as interest and guarantee, I will take Eli's soul on top... Admit it, it's a better deal that your Dad ever got... What do you say?..." He grabs here by the neck and kisses her deep to seal the agreement.

.

At the abandoned house, Sam instantly wakes up. He feels a little sour from laying down for God knows how long. When he rises from the bed he makes some stretching movements. His back still hurts a bit. He lifts his shirt and watch in the mirror for a wound. He just sees a long red and blue bruise right in the middle of his spine.

Dean enters at that moment. "Sammy?... Thank God…" He rushes to take him in his arm.

"Atouch!..." He winces.

"Sorry man… I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all… Come on, sit down…"

"Okay… Dean, what happened to me?"

"Well, what do you remember?"

"I saw you and Bobby and… Then I felt this sharp pain… Like white hot, you know?... And then you started running to me… And that's about it…" Sam explains, closing his eyes to visualize the last images from his memory.

"Okay… That guy stabbed you in the back… You lost a lot of blood... It was pretty touch and go for a while…"

"But, Dean… You can't patch up a wound that bad…"

"No, but Bobby could… Who was that guy anyways?" The elder's trying to wander off his brother from the delicate subject that is his miraculous recovery.

"His name's Jake… Did you get him?"

"No, he disappeared in the woods…"

"And where's Eli?"

"Hum… Sam…" He starts, not knowing how to tell him that.

"He got her, didn't he?... So, why are you still here instead of going after him to get her back?"

"Sam, you were badly wounded… I couldn't leave you here like that… But Bobby is after them…"

"On his own?... Dean, we have to find them… And I swear, I'm gonna tear that Son of the Bitch apart…"

"Waouw!... Easy Van Damme… Look, you just woke up. Let's get you something to eat first… Getting some strength… I even eat since… Bah, don't even remember…" Dean smiles.

.

During their lunch, Sam explains everything that happens since Eli and he disappeared at that Dinner at the end of the road. "And that's when you guys showed up…" He ends.

"That's awful… Poor Andy… And I can't believe that Ava turned on you... She seemed to be such a nice girl..."

"The Demon said he only wanted one of each kind to walk out alive…"

"He told you that?" Dean grabbing another piece of his sandwich.

"Yup… He appeared in a common dream…"

"A common dream?... How so?"

"Eli and I had the same 'encounter' with the Yellow-Eyed Demon the night before… While we were sleeping…"

"Did he tell you anything else?"

"No… That was it. Nothing else… What I don't get, Dean, is if the Demon only wanted one of a kind… Then how did Jake and I both get away?..."

.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"What I don't understand, Dean, is if the Demon only wanted one of each kind… Then how did Jake and I both get away?..." He wonders as he was chewing on a bite of pizza.

"Well, they left you for dead… I'm sure they thought it was over… Or maybe Eli could have killed Jake already and that's why you're still alive… You never know with those frigging Demons…" He lies. "Now that Yellow Eyes has Eli, what do you think he's gonna do with her?" He changes the subject.

"I don't know… But whatever it is, we gotta stop it… And fast..."

"Hold on, all right?... You need to get some rest… We got time…"

"No, we don't… It's close now, I can feel it..."

"Sam… Oceans are still not boiling, okay?... Frogs are still not raining from the sky… I said, we've still got time... Let's get you your strength back first…"

"Man, I don't get you… Honestly... Aren't you worry for Eli?..." Sam raising his voice.

"I'm sure she's fine… Bobby would have told me by now… And like you said, the Demon needs her alive since she's the only of her gender left…"

"Yeah, but…"

"ENOUGH!" Dean yells, slamming his bottle of beer on the table.

"Did you at least call Ash to see if there's some activity somewhere?..."

"Hum… About the roadhouse…"

"What about it?"

"We found it burned to the ground… Ash is dead… Probably Ellen… A lot of other hunters too…" He sadly explains.

"Oh God... Demons, you think?"

"Probably… Ash told us he found something… But, his voice sounded like he was totally paranoid... So, he asks us to come along... For safety... When we arrived, the place was a still smoking ruin… So, we know nothing about his findings… "

"Well, come on then… We need to find Bobby and Eli… We need to know what's going on…" He says, wiping his mouth with his napkin and getting his jacket from the chair.

"Stop!... Sam, damn it!... You almost died out there… I mean, what would I have done if ... Can't you just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh?... Just for a little bit…"

"Sorry, but no… I can't do that… Not until we find Eli…"

"No way I can change your mind, huh?"

"No…"

"Okay… Let me call Bobby… Again…"

Surprisingly, Bobby answered the phone after only two ringing. He explains to Dean that he returned home. After having unsuccessfully search all over the woods for days, he came to the conclusion that Eli, Jake and the Demon where already far gone. And he thought he would be best to continue his search with his books and looking for omens.

Dean advises him that he will arrive shortly.

.

When Bobby opens his front door, he friezes, stunned, his arms dandling.

"Hey, Bobby…" Sam naturally says.

"Hum… Hey… It's good to see you… So... Alive and kicking…" The old man looks dagger at Dean.

"Well, thanks for patching me up…" Sam petting his shoulder when entering the house.

"Don't mention it…" He stops the elder brother. "You owe me a good and solid explanation, Son…" He whispers.

"Later… Please…" Dean discretely mumbles back at him.

.

"Now that Sam's feeling better… We're back in… What did you find out already?... Any leads to locate Eli?..." Dean asks Bobby when they all sit in the kitchen.

"Glad you finally have some concerns about my daughter…" He sarcastically flings. "Well, nevertheless, I found something… But, I'm not sure what the hell it means."

"What is it?" Sam questions.

"As much as we didn't find anything during your disappearance… Suddenly, there are demonic omens everywhere…. Like a frigging tidal wave… Cattle's deaths, lightning storms… You name it... Here, have a look for yourselves…" He opens out a map in front of them. "There are all around the country… Except for one spot… In Southern Wyoming…"

"Wyoming?" Dean says, looking at the circle Bobby had mark around the area.

"That one area's totally clean… Spotless… It's almost as if the Demons are surrounding it…"

"But, you don't know why?"

"No… And at this point my eyes are so blurred that I won't be able to find a whole county on this map I you asked me… Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you can see something I couldn't…"

"Yeah, sure…"

"Dean?… I got some more books in the trunk of my car… Help me carried them in, will you?" Bobby making it sounds more like an order than a nice request.

.

Outside around the Yard, Bobby walks among the car shells, till he considers that it's far enough of the house. He briskly turns around to face Dean. "You stupid ass! What did you do?" Giving him an earful and taking his by the collar. Dean just looks at him not knowing how to confess what he did. "You made a deal for Sam, didn't you?... How long they've give you?"

"Bobby…"

"HOW LONG!" He yells.

"One year…"

"Damn it, Dean!" He pushes him away.

"That is why we gotta find this Yellow-eyed son of a bitch… That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I mean, I got nothing to lose now, right?"

"You're sure about that, huh?... Nothing to lose?... I could throttle you here and now just for saying that!…"

"And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?" He tries to joke.

"What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You, your Dad… You're both just itching for throwing yourselves down the pit... Please explain that to me, will you?... I'd like to know if this is something in your genes or something..."

"That's my point… Dad brought me back, Bobby… I'm not even supposed to be here… At least this way, something good can come out of it… Like my life can mean something…"

"What?... And it didn't before?... Have you got that low opinion of yourself?... Are you that screwed in the head?"

"I couldn't let him die, Bobby… I couldn't… He's my brother…" Dean pleads.

"How is your brother gonna feel when he knows you're going to hell?... How did you feel when you knew your Dad went for you, huh?"

"You can't tell him… Do whatever you want to me, but please don't tell him…"

"And my daughter?... Eli, still remember her?... Are you gonna let her in the dark too?... It's the ones who stay that suffer the most, I suppose you already heard that saying, right?..."

"Yeah, that's why we're not gonna tell her either..."

"You..." Bobby raising a hand in the air, like ready to smack him in the face, when suddenly they hear the fence making a metallic creaking sound like someone's scaling it.

.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Bobby and Dean carefully approach the entrance fence, ducking for cover as soon as they have a good sight on it.

A shadow slowly comes their way. They both jump in the middle of the path to face the intruder.

"Ellen?... Oh God!" Dean exclaims, grabbing her in his arms.

.

Back in the house, Bobby pours a glass of Holy Water and glides it across the table in front of Ellen. "Bobby, is this really necessary?"

"Just the house new insurance policy… If you are what you say you are, shouldn't hurt, right?" He says, only half joking.

While the trio is staring at her, ready to jump at any sign of possession, she gulps it down. And nothing happens. "Whiskey now if you don't mind…" She returns the glass to Bobby with a smile.

"Ellen? What happened? How did you get out of the roadhouse?" Dean asks concerned.

"I wasn't supposed to… I was supposed to be in there with everybody else… But, we ran out of pretzels… You imagine, I owe my life to a bag of pretzels!..." She drinks her shot all at once and immediately asks for another one with an explicit gesture of her thumb. "Any way… That's when Ash called me, totally freaked out. He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were all over the place. And everybody was already dead… I was just gone for 15 minutes at max… How could that have happened?" She sadly explains.

"We're so sorry, Ellen…" Sam softly says, putting a hand on her arm.

"Lot of good people died in there… And I got to live… Lucky me!... Where is Eli? I need to tell her that her friend Anthony was in there too…"

"Hum…" Dean looking at Bobby.

"She has been…" He started, having a lump in his throat.

"The Yellow-eyed Demon has her…" Sam finishes.

"And what the hell are you still all doing here, sitting around this table?... You should be on the road, tailing that bastard?..." She explodes with anger.

"Ellen… We don't know where he took her… That's why we are all here… To find a lead…" The younger brother apologizes.

"Ash told me on the phone that he found something… And he mentioned a safe to you… So..." Dean asks Ellen.

"Yeah... A hidden safe we keep in the basement…"

"Did the Demons get what was in it?"

"No…" She grabs a folded paper from her inner pocket and puts it on the table.

"A map of Wyoming?... Again Wyoming?... What does that mean?" Dean sees the different crosses marked with a black sharpie on the map.

"Guess it's time to go back in the books, lads…" Bobby getting up from his chair.

.

A few hours later, Bobby comes back in the main room with a huge old leather-covered book. "I don't believe it…"

"What? You find something?" Sam asks.

"A lot more than that…" He lets it fall on the table. "Each of these X's in an abandoned frontier church, all mid-nineteen's century… And all of them were built by… Samuel Colt…"

"Colt? The Demon-killing-gun-maker Samuel Colt?" Dean coming out of his research corner.

"Yep… And there's more… He built private railway lines connecting church to church… That just happens to be in a form of a…" He starts to connect all the marks with a pen, making it appear as a pentagram.

"Tell me that's not what I think it is…"

"A Devil's trap… A hundred-square mile frigging Devil's trap… That's brilliant… Iron lines that Demons can't cross…" Sam murmurs, finishing his brother's though.

"I never heard of anything that massive… And after all these years, none of the lines were broken?... It still works, you think?" Ellen wonders.

"Must be… All those omens Bobby found… That's certainly why the Demons are circling it, because they can't get in…" Sam explains.

"Why?... What's inside?"

"That's what I'm looking for right now… There's nothing except an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle?..." Dean coming back from his corner again with another book.

"What could be so important about a cemetery? What's Colt trying to protect?" Sam asks.

"What if Colt wasn't keeping Demons out of that perimeter? What if he was keeping something in it?" Dean sounding suddenly mysterious.

"Is there any way they could get inside?" Ellen questions.

"This thing is so powerful; you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it… No way, any of those Demon bastards could go across…" Bobby answered.

"No… But I know who can…" Sam looking to all the others.

.

Jake parks his stolen vehicle just before the railway line. Eli, a gag in her mouth, is in the passenger seat. Her hands are tied up on her lap, the rope going down, attached to her ankles. After having checked that she has no way to escape, he goes out and waits a foot on an iron beam.

"Howdy, Jake…" A voice comes from behind him. "So, did you have a nice trip? Did you have the opportunity to bind a little bit?" The Yellow-Eyed Demon smirks, looking at Eli.

"We're here… And I did what you asked… Now what?" The soldier abruptly asks.

"Fifty miles, that way..." He points to the direction. "There's a cemetery... And in that cemetery, there is a crypt... You gotta open it for me... Think you can manage that, Champ?"

"You know what?... Screw you and your freaky orders... Go do it yourself!..."

"Oh... Well, you see... I can't go that way... Not yet... Why do you think I needed you if I could do it myself, huh?..."

"Why can't you go that way?..."

"Oh Dear... It's worse than I thought..." The Demon says for himself. "I just can't, okay... But, if you open that crypt for me, you're gonna need a key..." He takes the Colt out of the inner pocket of his jacket, making Eli's eyes widen at the sight of it.

.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The Demon shows the Colt to the soldier. "That's the key?... An old gun?" Jake asks confused.

"Oh, this isn't just any gun, my boy... This is the only gun in the whole universe that can shoot me dead in a second..."

"Is that so?"

"Yep... Here, take it..." He hands it to him. Jake directly pulls the trigger and aims at the Demon's head. "Oh... My... I'm shocked at this unforeseen turn of events..." The Evil grins, making fun of the soldier. "Go ahead, Jake, squeeze that trigger... Be all you can be... This will all be over... Your life can go back to normal..." He dares him, before his face changes into a conspiring look. "Well only if… First, the Army will take you back since you're on their AWOL list now... Or second, you could maybe get that old job back at the factory, if you change your name of course... Or you can start a new life in Canada... But then, what about your family, huh?... Oh, wait... There is that other option... You and your family living forever in health and wealth... All happy together... Maybe having children and grand-children..." He gives another quick look to Eli. "And all this fairytale life is yours if you do this little thing for me..."

"Why me?..." Jake's hand slightly trembling.

"Oh... Man, it's gotta be you... I've been waiting for you for a very long time... You're my leader... You open that crypt and you will have your own army..."

"All this blabla plan of yours makes me think of one thing... You are preparing the end of the world, right?..." Jake still aiming the Demon's head with the Colt he gave him.

"No... Not the end... More of a new beginning... A better world where your family will be protected... And much more than that... They'll be Royalty... Buddy boy, you have the chance to get in... Imagine all those thrilling opportunities that you will open for yourself by just popping up a door... What do you say?... It's still your call..." Jake takes a moment to calculate the odds and finally decides to disarm the gun. "That's my boy!" The Demon gently petting his shoulder. "Let's now free your bride to be..." He smirks.

.

They untie Eli's ropes, the Demon holding her tight by the arms. "Jake will take away your gag... Just so you know, you can scream as much and loud as you want, there's no living soul in about 20 miles around... So, I advise you to keep your strengths... You will need them soon..." She starts to struggle and arrives to get rid of the Demon's grip. She runs away to the path, but just with a small movement of his hand, she stumbles and falls flat on the ground. "Get her back here, Jake..." He gently orders.

"Eli, Eli, Eli... You remind me so much of your mother, you know..." He softly strokes her cheek, as Jake holds her arms behind her back.

"What about my mother?... You killed her, I know... And I will kill you for it!" She throws out ferociously.

The Demon takes her chin in his hand. "Oh no, sweetie... I did not kill your mother... I loved her..."

"Yeah right!... Like this is something you're capable of... A Demon in love!" She burst into laughter.

"Don't you dare doubting of my feelings for her!..." He presses his fingers in the skin, making her wince. "And for your info... She loved me back!..."

"All lies... As usual... You just try to mess up with my mind, just like Dean said..." Trying to make believe she wasn't afraid of them.

"Are you still not over that moron yet?... Oh for Lucifer's sake, Eli!... You deserve so much better than that... You are so smart, so fresh, so beautiful... And those hair of yours... Like the flames of hell... Your mom had exactly the same ones..." He remembers with nostalgia.

"Why did you kill her?" She raises her voice.

"I DID NOT KILL HER!... YOUR FATHER DID!..." He fulminates.

"No... Don't..." She whispers, tears slowly starting to form in her eyes, not only from what the Demon is telling her, but from the pain she feels from Jake's grip.

"Don't what? Tell you the truth?... If your daddy dearest didn't have the sack to confess, well I will... It's time for you to know... To have all the cards in your hands and make the right decision here... Your mom was ready to follow me... So, I had to... Hum... Whatever... But your father caught us and voilà... That jealous drunk father of yours stabbed her..."

"You deranged sick bastard of hell!... It's all lies!... All lies!... Never my Dad would have done such a thing... And never my Mom would have even look at you..."

"Search deep down in you, Eli... You know I'm not lying here... All your sufferings, all those arguments with your father, all this weirdness around you... You know it's the truth... You finally know... I lost the love of my life... And now when I see you... I feel so proud..." He suddenly hardened his tone. "Okay, enough excess of schmaltz... You'll do exactly as I say, Eli dear... I still can take some souls away from you, remember?..."

"Well, you can kill me right here and right now, because you will never gain me to your cause... Give me one small chance and I'll smoke your and your buddy's asses to the darkest place in Hell!..." She spits out with the last conviction she is still capable off.

"All right then... It'll be all your own doing…" He puts a hand on her forehead, making her freeze. "You can let her loose now, Jake... Eli?... Will you gently take Jake's hand and walk with him now?..." He softly asks her. Her pupils have turned in a soft yellow color, she nods a 'yes'.

.

Jake and Eli arrive at the cemetery, going straight for the crypt.

Behind a gravestone, Dean is already hiding, a gun in his hand ready to shoot.

"Howdy, Jake…" A voice comes from behind the couple. It's Sam aiming his gun at them. Bobby stands on their left side and Ellen and Dean on their right, making a form of a half circle surrounding them.

"What are you doing here?... You're dead… I killed you…" Jake says half surprised, half angry.

"Oh yeah?... Well, next time finish the job…"

"I did… I cut clean through your spinal cord, man… I've been trained to do that… You can't be alive… You can't be…"

Sam gives a quick look at Dean, who just shrugs.

"Okay, just take it real easy there, Son… And first let my girl go…" Bobby intervenes, making a movement to Eli with his gun.

"That's your daughter, huh?..." He grabs her by the arm and draws her closer to him. She lets herself go like a rag doll, a faraway look in her eyes. "And if I don't…" He menaces.

"Wait and see…" Sam holding his gun a little tighter in his hand.

"What? You're a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you gonna do? Kill me?"

"It's a thought…"

"You had your chance… And you couldn't do it…"

"I won't make that mistake twice…"

"And risk touching your precious, here…" He grins, tightening his grip on Eli's arm.

.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jake is still trying to keep his advantage over the others, menacing to kill Eli if needed. He grins at them with a daring look on his face.

"What are you smiling at, you little bastard?…" Dean making a step forward.

"Hey you, Lady… Do me a favour… Put that gun to your head…" Jake suddenly commands to Ellen, a red glow in his eyes. Trembling, she slowly starts to obey. "See, that Ava girl was right… Once you give yourself to it, there are all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn…"

"Let her go…" Sam says as calmly as possible.

"Shoot him…" Ellen slowly mouths.

"You'll be mopping up skulls before you get a shot off… Okay now… Everybody put his gun down… Except you, Sweetheart…" Jake smiles at Ellen, when all the others obey. "Thank you…" He smirks and let Eli loose. He makes a slight move with his head and she goes back in front of the crypt. She takes the Colt and introduces the barrel in a hole in the centre of the door.

"Eli!… Don't do this!…" Dean yells. Deaf to his request, she turns the gun as a key in its lock.

Jake just gives a quick look, while the opening mechanism starts to make metallic noises, giving the opportunity to Bobby to snatch Ellen's gun from her hands, Sam to grab his weapon from the ground and shoots four times in the soldier's body.

"NOOOOOO…" Eli screams, seeing Jake on the floor. She wants to go to him, but Dean intercepts her. "Let me go!... You, don't touch me!..." She struggles, when Sam comes above the still alive soldier. He raises his gun and ends his life with two more bullets in his head. She knees next to Jake, crying.

.

Eli slowly raises her gaze to Sam, a bad smile over her face. "It's too late anyway…"

They all look at the door, its mechanism slowing making its way open, moving back and forth like a vault's code.

"Oh, no…" Bobby claims with fear.

"What is it?" Ellen asks.

"It's Hell!…"

Dean removes the Colt from the lock and hides it in one of his inner pocket.

"Take cover, now!..." The old man yells around, when awful knocks are coming from the door.

Sam grabs Eli on his way. She looks at him. "So, you are my new King?..." She gently smiles.

"Not now, Eli!..." He drags her behind the larger gravestone he could find. "And stay put!..." He orders her, ducking next to her, holding tight on the rock.

The door of the crypt slams open with a terrifying growl, followed by lightning coming from nowhere streaking the sky and huge gusts of wind sweeping across the graveyard.

Thousands and thousands of little black smokes are rushing out of the opened giant mouth, escaping all possible directions in the air.

"What the hell just happened?" Dean screams around.

"That's a Devil's gate… A door to Hell… The real Hell…" Ellen answers him yelling.

.

Waiting in front of a clean cut in the railway lines made by Jake just before he went for the cemetery, the Yellow-Eyed Demon looks at the sky filled with black smoke lines flying all around. He bursts into a demonic laughter and crosses the open path.

.

"Come on… We gotta close that gate…" Ellen screaming to Bobby and Sam.

Dean checks the Colt to see if there is still a bullet in it. "If that bastard gave this to Eli and Jake… Then maybe…" He says for himself before turning around and faces the Yellow-Eyed Demon.

Without hesitation, he aims the gun at him, but Eli, rushing from behind her gravestone, grabs it away from him. And in a split of a second, she stands next to the Demon, handing the Colt to him. "Thanks, Sweetie… Good job…" He looks at Dean. "Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns…" He smirks before sending him across the graveyard. He harshly hits a stone, knocking him down for a minute. He shakes his head to regain full consciousness.

The three others are still fighting to get the crypt door closed. Sam, looking aside, sees Dean on the ground and Eli and the Demon walking to him. "Dean!" He yells before letting go his pressure and running in their direction. Eli just raises her hand and Sam is pinned against a tree-trunk.

"I'll get to you in a minute, Champ… But, I'm proud of you… I knew you had it in you… Eli dearest, keep an eye on him, will you…" The Demon orders.

"Yes, Master…" She answers before facing Sam, her hand keeping the pressure on his chest.

Dean wants to get back on his feet, but the Demon pushes him back against the stone.

"So, Dean… I gotta thank you… You see, Demons can't resurrect people, unless a deal is made… I know; paperwork can make you nuts sometimes… But, thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation… Now, I wasn't counting on that, but I'm glad… And between you and me, I liked him better than Jake anyhow… Aren't they doing a perfect match for each other?... Look…" The Demon makes a step aside to let Dean see Sam talking to Eli, both smiling. "Tell me…" He faces Dean again, smirking at the sight of the anger growing in the young man's eyes. "You never heard the expression: 'If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is'?..."

"You call that a good deal?" He answers between his teeth.

"It's a better one that your Dad ever got. And you never wondered why?... I'm surprised… I mean, you saw what your brother just did to Jake, right?... That was pretty cold, wasn't it?... And you saw Eli powers too… Imagining them both together, what they'll capable off…"

"You, Son of a Bitch!…"

"Yeah… I know…" He laughs.

.

On the other side of the graveyard, Sam tries to wake Eli back from her hypnosis state.

"Eli… You have to stop this now…"

"Stop what?... Everything goes as planned… I never wanted Jake anyway… I wanted you… From the start... And I can deduce that you want me too, since you just saved me…" She answers with a little girl's voice, her eyes lightly glowing with red sparkles.

"Then you have to listen to me… Let me go free from this tree…" He gently asks her, playing in her game.

"Hum… I don't know… There are still enemies around… It's for your own protection, Sam…" She smiles.

"No, I have to protect you… That's how it works…" He smiles back.

"It won't be long any more… Wait till our Master is back…"

"Eli, please… Wake up!..." He makes it sound desperate.

.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Dean… Another thought for you: How certain are you that what your brought back is 100% pure Sam, huh?... What make you thing that Eli is not a Demon since day one you met her?..." The Demon still talking with the elder of the Winchesters.

"That's impossible… How could she be a Demon and kill others?…"

The Demon starts to laugh devilishly. "After everything you've been through… You of all people should know that what's dead should stay dead… Whatever…" He waves those thoughts away with his hand like a fly bothering him. "Let's get back to our main subject... I owe you a huge 'Thanks'… I knew I kept you alive for some reason… Until now anyway… I couldn't have done it without your pathetic self-loathing-self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family… So, be it!..." He aims Dean's head with the Colt.

When all of a sudden a shadow rises behind the Demon. The young man, after a second of surprise, recognises his father.

.

John surrounds the Yellow-Eyed, the body falling on the ground, leaving only his black smoke in his arms. They struggle for a minute before the Demon arrives to get rid of John's hold and going back into the meat-suit. He angrily rises, but freezes instantly when he hears the sound of a trigger being pulled. Dean looks straight in the Demon's eyes and shoots fire, the bullet finding his target right in his heart. Bright lights are coming through all possible extremities and the body crashes hardly on the ground. As the last sparkle fads away, Eli falls unconscious and Sam gets loose from his tree pinning torture. On the other side, Ellen and Bobby finally arrive to close de door of the crypt.

"Eli?..." Sam gently shaking her to wake her up.

"What happened? What did I do?..." She sobs.

"It's okay… Are you hurt?"

"No, I don't think so…" He helps her to stand on her feet.

.

They all turn to face the man that is standing in the middle of them.

John approaches Dean, softly smiling, putting a heart-warming hand on his shoulder. He looks on his left side, to Sam and Eli, widening his smile in a silent 'I love you'.

He makes a few steps aside, a shiny white light coming upon him and taking his soul with it.

.

The brothers surround the man's dead body, now emptied from the Yellow-Eyed Demon. "Well, check that off our to-do list…" Dean smirks.

"You did it…" Sam whispers.

"I didn't do this alone…"

"Do you think Dad really climbed out of Hell?..." Sam wonders.

"The door was open… If anyone's stubborn enough to do it, it'd be him…"

"Where do you think he is now?"

"Honestly?... I wish I knew…"

"I kind of can't believe it, Dean… I mean… Our whole lives, everything has been prepping for this… Now, I don't know what to say…"

"I do…" The elder bends closer to the body. "That was for our mom's, you Son of a Bitch…"

.

Bobby takes Eli in his arms. "Thank God… I'm so glad you're alive, Pumpkin…"

"I'm fine, Dad… I'm fine…" She tonelessly answers.

"Come on, let's all go home now… Not much else we can do around here right now…" He says, looking at Ellen.

"Excuse me for a second... I need to talk to Sam…" Eli leaving her father's embrace.

"Tough day, huh?" Sam gently says when she approaches him.

"What's going to happen now?... I opened the gate to Hell…"

"Eli, it's not your fault… If you didn't, Jake would have done it… Or even me…"

"I remember everything… I saw all of it… But, I couldn't stop it from happening… I realise what I'm capable of now… And that's scares the hell out of me…" Tears slowly coming down her cheeks.

"Hey… The Demon's dead… It's all over now…" He hugs her tight.

"And if it was just the beginning… And if we still have it in us… He told me things about me and my family…"

"Calm down… Let us get away from here, have some rest… We'll deal with it in a few days… If there is still something to deal with in the first place…" He still tries to reassure her.

"Do you feel… Any different?... Like the abilities are gone?..."

"And you… Do you still feel it?..."

"I don't know… I just feel just weird…"

"That's why we need to distance ourselves from all this…"

"Sam… There's something I need to tell you… About Dean… Something he did…"

"I think I already know… Let me handle this, okay… And I think we all need to talk to each other… The sooner the better..."

.

Sam joins his brother already checking on his dear car, to be sure no Demon black smokes could have cause any damage.

"You know, when Jake saw me, it was like he saw a ghost… I mean, you heard him, Dean… He said he killed me…" He starts to have his brother's full attention.

"Well, I'm glad he was wrong…"

"He seemed to be pretty sure of his fact… What happened after I was stabbed?"

"I already told you…"

"Not everything…"

"Sam, we just killed THE Demon… Can we celebrate for a minute?" Dean pleads.

"Did I die?... Did you sell your soul for me, like Dad did for you?" He insists.

"Oh! Come on… NO!"

"Dean… Tell me the truth…"

"He did make a deal… The Demon told me…" Eli divulges, coming from behind.

"Damned!" He angrily says, banging his fists on the roof of his car.

"What? You though that we would never find out?... That Demon was way too eager to give us that kind of info... How could you?..."

"Eli…" Sam gently asking her to let him continue the questioning. "Dean?... How long did you get?..." He's giving him an insisting look.

"One year… I got one year…" He whispers.

"You shouldn't have done that… You really shouldn't..."

"Don't get mad at me, Sam… Don't do that… I had to… I had to look out for you. That's my job!"

"And what do you think my job is, huh?..."

"What?"

"You save my life, over and over… I mean, you sacrifice everything for me… So now and no matter what it will take, I swear, I'm gonna get you out of this deal…" Sam finishing in a more calmly tone.

"Yeah… Right…"

"Well, Yellow-Eyed Demon might be dead, but a lot more got through that gate…" Ellen says.

"How many you think?..."

"Couple of hundreds… Roughly… The gate stood open long enough to unleashed a whole army…"

"Hope you boys are ready… Because war's just begun…" Bobby adds.

"Well then… Not today we're gonna register for an unemployed benefit…" Dean finally hopping in his Impala.

.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Back in Sioux Falls, they all take some rest in Bobby's house. The place is awfully quiet; everyone attending to their own business. Bobby and Sam are spending long hours looking everywhere in the newspapers and on the Internet on any info of a first attack from the Hell-gate released Demons.

Ellen has decided to make a spring-cleaning of the whole dump. It was obvious that it was a long time ago any women took care of it.

Dean, as usual, is passing his days outside working on his car.

And Eli, it seems that she's having the hardest time to deal with everything that happened lately. Since they were back home, she stays recluse in her bedroom. Only coming out to have some food or drinks.

.

Sitting in front of one another, Bobby suddenly clears his throat. Sam lifts his eyes from his laptop. "Something wrong?"

"I'm getting really worried about Eli… Since we're back, she stays in her room all day… Barely talks… Not sure she's even eating properly…"

"Bobby, come on… Give her some time… It was tough back there, you know… And don't worry, she talks… We had a whole conversation last night…" He lowers back his gaze on the screen.

"Well, if she did say 3 words in the last 2 days to me, let's speak of a miracle… I feel like she's avoiding me…"

"Bobby, stop playing mother hen... Really, you're worrying too much… But, if that will make feel you better, I'll have a word with her about it later today…" He gently answers, keeping his eyes on the computer.

"Yeah… Please... Do that…"

.

Dean is finishing some minor repairs on his car to be sure it will be fit to go at any sign that Bobby and his brother could dig out from their research.

Eli approaches with two bottles of beer in her hands. "Though you might be thirsty…"

"Good though… Thanks…" He rubs his dirty hands with a cloth and sits on the edge of the hood. "So, how do you feel lately?..."

She looks surprised at him. "Well, I'm okay… I guess… But, it should be me asking you that question?..."

"Honestly?... Never felt so great in my entire life!..." He cheerfully says.

"Really?... Hum…" She starts to draw a random form on the ground with the tip of her foot.

"What?" He comes impatiently.

"How dare you?..." She whispers.

"What now?..."

"Doing like you are so frigging happy!... You are the most selfish bastard I ever met!... Did it ever occur to you that some people around you might feel a little bit different?... And be so what worried and sad and angry about what will happened to you in less than a year!..." She explodes.

"I took my decision in all honesty… Don't you get it?... I couldn't let Sam die… And for the rest of my year, I want to make the best of it… And that's it!…"

"So, for you, all is clear and simple, huh?… You are gonna party like hell… Continue to kill whatever Demon you can flush out… And just wait for the hell-hounds to drag you down the pit… Damned, what an interesting end of life!"

"Yep!... It's my life and will live it the way I want it…" He smirks

"Remove that grin off your face right now!… Or I swear, I'm gonna wipe it off with sandpaper…" She yells, ready to jump on his back. "I really don't know why I'm still talking to you!... Or why am I even care anymore…"

"WELL THEN DON'T, for Christ sake!…" He barks. "We both know this was dead from the start... And yeah... It's better we go our separate ways… You're right, I'm selfish and heartless and the biggest a-hole in the entire universe!… I never had any decent relationship with anybody… Ever, Eli… The only think I can do is flirting in a bar and leave in the early morning…" He heavily sighs. "Eli… You deserve way better that this… Why would you suffer more than you already are now?… It's better this way… My faith is sealed… In one year, I'll be down…"

"YOU!… GO TO HELL!..." She turns around and heads to the house.

"Already on my way to it, Honey…" He mumbles, going back under the hood.

.

She rushes up the stairs, slams her bedroom door and letting herself fall on her bed. Sam wants to go after her, but Ellen stops him. "Let me go see her and have one of those girl's talk…"

She softly knocks. "Eli, it's me, Ellen… Do you mind letting me in?..." She hears some rummage in the room and the door slowly opens.

"I'm fine, Ellen… I'm just furious with myself…" Eli says, wiping the tears from her face.

"Yeah, sure… Like I never cried over a guy… I know the symptoms, you know…" She smiles, taking her hand and both go sit on the bed. "Listen… When I met my guy… As you know he was a hunter too… Things were not all romantic and cosy at first… He also had a dissolute life and some relationship issues… And you know what I did to finally win the battle of his heart?..." Eli nods a 'no'. "Well, I totally ignored him… Like I really didn't give a damn shit about that poor bastard… Look, those types of fish are really hard to catch… The more you squeeze them, the more they slip through your fingers…" That image makes Eli chuckle. "I don't know those Winchester boys for a long time, Sweetie… But, I'm not blind either… And I saw the look in his eyes when you are around… And he might act like nothing got to him, but he doesn't fool me…"

"I don't know any more, Ellen… I have myself a hard time to really know what I'm feeling exactly… And I know that for a whole part, Dean is right… Our job is not the best to build something… You were not a hunter at the start. You were running your bar… My mom wasn't a hunter either… She was a housewife… Is that not what's makes the difference?… Plus now, with that deal he made… What could we have left to hold on to?…"

"True, it's an odd mix you two have… But, being on his back all the time and waiting for him to make a move to you won't do it either…"

"Do I act so desperate to you?" Eli shyly asks.

"Well… Let's say sometimes…" Ellen answers with a soft smile. "So, my little advice to you… Live and let live… In the course of time, I'm sure it will bring you the answers you miss… It's not going to be easy and painless, for sure… But, if there is really something solid between you and it's meant to be, destiny will provide you a solution… And I'm not a Christian or anything…" She finishes joking.

"Thanks, Ellen… I'll try to follow your advice… Even if I already start to put my mind on a negative issue, here…"

"If it helps you to bare the pain…" Ellen gently patting her thigh.

"Do you imagine that same conversation with my Dad?..." Eli starting to smile.

"Oh Dear God, no!... Knowing Bobby, he would probably rip the poor boy's head off before you even finish the first sentence..."

"Most likely…" The two women burst into laughter.

"Are you coming downstairs with me?"

"Maybe later…"

"Okay…"

"Did they already found any Demons attack yet?" Eli asks Ellen just before she closes the door.

"Nope… Nothing… It nearly a week and still nothing… Dunno what those suckers are waiting for…" She shrugs.

.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Later in the evening, Eli and Ellen are bustling about preparing dinner for the whole bunch. Bobby and Sam enter the kitchen, holding several newspapers clippings, some files and books. "Think we might finally have found our first demon attacks…"

"Really?... Where?..." Ellen looking above Bobby's shoulder.

"Lincoln… Nebraska…"

"What's so special in Lincoln?"

Ellen starts to read the headlines of the newspaper clippings Bobby has in his hands: "An entire family found dead in front of their favorite TV show… She kills for a pair of green shoes… Cop mysterious suicide case… And that all happened in the same town at the same period?" She asks the two men.

"Yep… All in Lincoln, Nebraska… Started over a week ago…" Sam answers.

"The day the Gate was opened…" Eli states.

"At first, I could not link those three cases together… Other than their odd circumstances…" Bobby starts to explain, all sitting down around the table. "So, I started with asking for the coroner's reports on the first case… The family cause of death? Dehydration and starvation…"

"Like they just sat down and never got up…" Sam adds, when Dean's making his entrance in the place.

"What's all this fuss about?..." He asks, washing his dirty hands in the sink.

"Bobby might have found some job for us…" His brother quickly says.

"Is there a toxicology report?" Eli questions Sam.

"Yep… I already checked that… No drugs found… What's on your mind?" Showing her the reports.

"Well, some neuromuscular paralyzing drugs could have been injected and they might have been conscious but totally unable to move…"

"Yeah, but those effects don't last… There should have been someone there for several days, maybe weeks to continuously giving them the product… Or they would have found some intravenous material..."

"Hum… No traces of injection… No restraint or violence found on the bodies… Here goes my theory… " She reads from the file.

"But, it was a good though, tho…" Sam kindly smiles at her.

"If you two genius-heads would be so kind to let me continue here… I could give them precious information without tearing apart any of their beloved brain cells…" Bobby impatiently cuts them. "So… That was for the first case. The second one: A guy enters a store, talks to a blond for a moment, pointing at a second woman – a brunette… Five minutes later, the blond attacks the brunette on the sidewalk, smashes her brains out on a car windshield and calmly walks away with the pair of shoes the other just bought… At the police station, the blond doesn't recall anything that happened… She even didn't like the shoes… Wrong color, she said…"

"Women…" Dean whispers.

"Shut up, Dean…" Ellen smirks.

"And the third case is even weirder… Two cops enter in a bar, to check the place after a disturbance complaint from the neighbors… Ten minutes later, one of the cops… A certain, Isaiah Bishop is found dead at the premises… Cause of death? Poisoning… The guy drank one litter of drain clearing product!… He was unstoppable, explained his partner to his superior… But even with those facts and after the autopsy, they strangely conclude to a suicide…"

"Okay… All those cases are odd… But, where's the link with a demon attack?" Eli asks.

Bobby opens the book he brought with the files. "When we open that Hell's Gate, we not only let loose common demons like we use to hunt… We also let go a lot worse types… Like those ones…" He flips it to show the others.

"The Seven Sins?... You must be kidding!…" Dean shouts out.

"In this book of Classification of Demons, Binsheld identified in 1589 the Seven Sins not just as human vices, but as actual Devils…"

"So, let's sum it up… The Family was touched by 'Sloth'… The blond crazy-killer-shopper was 'Envy'… And the cop was 'Gluttony'…'" Sam lists.

"Wouaw… Just like in that 'Se7en' movie…" Dean looking around the table. "You know… Seven with Brat Pitt..." He insists, seeing no reaction from the rest of the group.

"Okay… I buy it… If there are seven like them, don't think they gonna wait in line to get nicely exorcised, right?... So, what's the plan?" Eli still reading from the book.

"We won't stop them with normal means, that's for sure… These Demons haven't been in the open air in half a millennium… I'm talking medieval, dark ages… We really need to closely think every move we'll make…" Bobby says.

Dean rises from his chair. "We'll figure something out on the way… Come on, Sammy… We got some work to do!"

"Sit down, Hotshot!... We are all going… Five against seven beats two against the same number, don't you think?… Idjit!" The old man grabbing his arm, making the others laugh.

"Did you already find a way to locate those bastards?" Ellen asks.

"We'll start at the bar where the cop was murdered… Could be their gathering place… And we have a capture from the shop's camera of the guy that talked to that blond woman into a crazy-shoe-vendetta…" Sam explains.

"Leave me that picture… Let's see if I can find a name going with the mug…" Eli grabbing the paper from his hands.

"Are you gonna hack the FBI website again?" Bobby heavily sighs.

"No, just the DMV… And it's not hacking anymore, now that I have my own profile and password… Agent Elizabeth Monroe at your service…" She smiles and salutes around.

"Oh Dear…" Dean mumbles.

.

In Lincoln, they easily spot an abandoned house just outside of town to install their gears.

"Ellen and Eli… You stay here, prepping for when we come back with our first prisoner…" Dean commands.

"Won't the others following you here?..." Ellen asks.

"That's the plan… And that's why we need you here to prep this place into a Non-Demons-allowed-unless-invited fortress…" He winks.

"Sam, I think I found our guy's name… Walter Rosen from Oak Park near Chicago…Went missing a week ago…" Eli explains, showing him a copy of his driver license.

"Another proof that this is Demon related… Thanks…" He takes the paper that she is handing him.

"So… You guys are ready?" Dean calls his brother and Bobby, checking a last time if his handgun is fully loaded.

.

Outside, at the back of the house, a pretty young woman, with long blond hair, is spying them through a small hole in a window. She delicately strokes the knife attached around her waist, a smirk on her face.

.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

In Dean's Impala, parked in front of the bar, the three men are watching any movement from the door.

"What time is it?" Bobby yawns.

"Seven past midnight…" Dean answers.

All of a sudden, Sam points at a shadow walking to the entrance. "Hey? Isn't that our guy Walter?".

"Yep… That's him… All right… Show time!" Dean already a hand on the door handle.

"Wait a minute… What did I told you about those Demons?... We don't know what to expect out of them… We should tail the guy till we know for sure…" Bobby stopping him once again from rushing.

"So, you're ready to take the risk of letting this guy kill someone else to have your proof he's a 'Sinner'?"

"I didn't say that, but going up front like this is just suicide… How could you be sure there are no other Demons in there, huh?..."

"Guys?… Look, there is a back door… We could enter from there and have a peek on what is happening inside…" Sam proposes.

"Okay… I'm going for that door… You move the car close, ready to rush away if necessary…" Dean going loose from Bobby's grip.

"I give you 10 minutes…" The old man warns him.

.

Dean carefully enters in the bar's stockroom. He stay put for a moment before slowly opening the other door leading left next to the counter. A jukebox is playing a good classic rock tune. "I'm surprised those bastards have such good taste in music…" He smirks, counting at least six other persons in the place.

Walter sips on a fresh served beer, talking to the bartender; a six foot high bald guy.

Taking his gun out of his inner pocket, Dean does not pay attention to a woman coming in his direction. She slams open the storage door with her foot, her two hands carrying a tray of empty bottles. He makes a step aside, trying to hide in a darker spot, but hits a wooden box in the process. The woman drops her load and turns on the lights. "What have we here?" She comes loudly when she discovers the intruder. "Why don't you come out of there and join the party…"

Slowly, Dean moves forward, out of his hiding place, aiming his gun at her. "Oh, I don't think that thing is of any use, Sweetheart…" She grins, turning her eyes totally black.

Hearing the racket in the back, the huge bald guy appears at the door step. He softly pushes her aside, grabs Dean by the collar and throws him in the middle of the bar. All the other customers are turning towards the newcomer, their eyes entirely black. "So, it is the Seven's hideout… That explains the stinky smell we can sniff a mile away…" He tries to hold his composure.

"Man, you really walked into the wrong place…" Walter grins, making the other Demons chuckling.

"Isn't this a cute one?... I could think of about a thousand things I'd like to do to you…" A blond girl languorously rubbing her body against his.

"Let me guess… 'Lust', right?" He softly smiles, pushing her aside.

"A cute stupid one, you mean Dear…" A man in a suit approaches. "You know who we are and still you are throwing yourself into the lion's mouth… Brave, but totally ill-considered, if you ask me…" He takes him by the throat with just one hand and lifts him from the floor like he weights nothing. Dean tries to get away from his grip, but his legs are just pedaling in the air.

.

At that moment, the entrance door explodes in a thousand pieces, the Impala stopping right in the middle of the bar. Bobby and Sam are rushing out with huge buckets of holy water that they spread all over to temporarily push the Demons away from them. The man in the suit, totally taken by surprise, lets Dean loose.

Grabbing a chair on his way, the elder smash it on Walter's head. Bobby, already sitting back behind the wheel, re-starts the engine. Sam, moving back, opens the trunk, to let Dean unload the half knocked-out Demon in it and locking it. "Go… Go… Go…" He yells to Bobby. Both brothers are jumping back in the car, just in time before the old man hits the gas pedal flat out, storming out in a deafening roar.

.

Back at the abandoned house, they tie up Walter under a devil's trap Eli painted on the ceiling. She is staring at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

"So, you know who we are, huh?…" He grins. "You know and you are still taking the risk to all get killed?... Are you all suicidal or something… You can imagine that my brothers and sisters will be here any minute now…" He continues, as she stays impassive.

"We know who you are… And we are not impressed…" Bobby flings, checking once again that the knots, binding his body, arms and feet, are firmly tightened.

"Now, why are you here?... What are you after?..." Sam asks.

"He asked you a question?..." Dean slapping him with the back of his hand. "What do you want?"

"Peace on earth?" The Demon laughs. Bobby grabs a glass full of Holy Water on the little table and throws it in his face, making him wince. "We already have what we want… We're out!... We're free!... Thanks to you, my kind is everywhere… I am legion, for we are many…" He chuckles. "So me, I'm just celebrating… Having a little fun…"

"Fun?" Sam outrages.

"Yeah!... Fun… See, some people crochet, others golf… Me… I like to see people's insides on their outsides…" His eyes turning into a nasty look. "You really think you're better than us?... Huh, really?... Which one of you can cast us the first stone?... What about you, Dean?... You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust…"

"Hey!..." Eli yells, coming close to the Demon her fist in the air.

"Oh, you Eli… All that wrath, that envy and that vainglory of yours… Tsh, tsh, tsh… Aren't those the reasons you became a hunter? And wanting so bad to get laid by one? Because, of course, no other type of guy has that much prestige than a fellow creature in your eyes…" He leans aside to look at the men. "Be aware you all, one day all that evilness in her will pop out… And no Dean or Sam would be able to stop her, unless be killed by your own hands!" He burst into laughter. Couldn't stand his speech anymore, Eli smacks him hard in the jaw. "My point exactly…" He spits on the floor the blood he as in his mouth from the blow. "And you call us sins!... We're no sins… We are the natural human instincts… And you can repress and deny us all you want. But the truth is you are just animals… Horny, greedy, hungry, violent animals… And in less than an hour, you will be slaughtered like ones…"

"So sorry you won't be seeing that one… Since, you'll be already back to hell…" Dean says, taking the book ready on the table. "Eli? In the mood for it?" He hands it to her.

"With pleasure…" She directly starts to read the Latin text, while all the others are going back to the main room.

.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"That joker may be right on one thing…" Sam says when they all are gathered in the main room, while Eli is busy to practice the exorcism on Demon 'Envy'.

"Right on what?" Dean asks him.

"Well, the others are certainly on their way here… There're six of them left… We can't fight them all at once… We're out-manned and outgunned… We'll probably be dead by down…"

"Bro, this is one of the first times in history you sound so pessimistic… Let me tell you one thing I'm sure off… If I'm going down today, I'm going down fighting!..."

"We are all ready to stay and fight and take a maximum of those bastards with us, Hun… There is unfortunately no way out of this now… If we don't fight them, they will hunt us down, wherever we hide… And hiding doesn't run in this family, right?…" Ellen adds, patting Sam on the shoulder.

"Well, let's prepared to be sure we won't make it too easy for them then…" Bobby emptying two bags full of gears.

They suddenly hear a huge bang and a loud scream coming from the other room.

.

Eli slams open the door between the two rooms and goes for the kitchen corner of the house. "Someone wants some coffee?" She says, like nothing just happened.

"You're okay?" Sam asks a little concerned.

"Yeah… Not that different from any other common Demon… In the end, they all go the same way… Even the so called wickeder ones…" She blandly explains.

"And about what he said about you…" Sam lowering his voice and coming closer to her.

"I know… All lies… As usual… Don't worry, I get it!…" She smiles, blowing away the steam from the hot liquid coming out of the plastic cup and by-passing him to join the others.

.

All of them are preparing for the impending attack.

Eli fills in a bunch of small containers with Holy Water while Dean, sitting on the floor a few steps away from her, is charging all the shotguns with rock salt ammo. Their eyes met, but any of them finds the right thing to say. He finally softly smiles to her, but that's making her look away. Seeing that, he sadly nods his head.

The old radio in a corner starts to play by itself, unquestionable sign that Demons are approaching. "Here we go…" Dean cocks the last loaded gun in his hands and goes up. He checks at the window, looking between the wooden planks blocking its access. Eli hurries up to scatter around the house the bottles and containers of Holy water.

Sam is downstairs, posted at the window at the back of the house. Bobby is at the front door and Ellen covering the east wing. They are all at their pre-designated post, waiting.

Heavy gusts of wind suddenly shake the branches of the trees surrounding the place.

The man in the suit, known as 'Pride' comes forward and stops in front of the porch. "Where is Envy'?… What did you do him?... Let him free and we promise to kill you rapidly and with not too much suffering…"

"That SOAB of brother of yours is already waiting for you in Hell, Buddy!" Bobby yells through the entrance door.

'Pride' tries to keep is calm by taking some death breathes. "Is that so?... I'm afraid you just signed your death sentence… And I will personally see to it you go slowly in a lot of pain then…"

"We'll send you back down before you even make an inch inside this house!" Dean screams from upstairs.

"Are you really sure this house is totally secured?..." He grins. "You can't stay looked in there forever, right?… And even if patience is not my favorite game, just knowing the way I'm gonna take care of you specially, Dean, will make me wait for a hundred years!" The Demon bursts into laughter before going back behind the trees.

.

"We need to double check we salt every little possible entrance…" Sam says around.

Everybody starts to look every door, every window. All of a sudden, Eli hears some rummage coming from the roof, like someone ripping of the tiles from it. "Damned!... Guys, they're trying to enter from the attic…" She warns. Dean arrives and looks at the trap door on the ceiling. "Too late!... Run!..." He grabs her by the arm and pushes her in front of him, both rushing down the stairs. "THERE ARE ALREADY INSIDE!..." He yells to warn the others.

.

They descry a thud from feet falling on the upstairs wooden floor and then a disturbing silence.

Dean makes moves with one of his arms to silently send every one of them in a given place. He then slowly goes up the stairs again, a gun in one hand and an open bottle of Holy Water in the other.

He hugs the walls and carefully looks through the first door. He recognizes the young woman from the bar, 'Lust', grabbing a bedside lamp and throwing it through the window, the wind immediately blowing away the salt line from the ledge. Dean decides to back up and hides in a second room. He waits till the six Demons pass him by. He jumps on the last one in line, surrounding her with a rope soaked in Holy Water. He drags her in the bathroom and pushes her in the bathtub filled up with the same sacred liquid. He slams the door and salts it, just in time before the other Demons are banging on it. He quickly turns around, 'Lust' already trying to get out of the tub. He tears down the plastic curtain and wraps it around her face, making it easier to plunge her back into the Holy bath. She groans and struggles all she can.

.

Downstairs, Bobby falls face to face with the huge bartender, his eyes all black. He backs up in the library, the Demon following him. The old man suddenly bumps against the fireplace, making the giant guy smirks. But, two steps away from his target; he is suddenly stopped by an invisible force. He lifts his gaze to discover the demon trap on the ceiling.

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, 'Sloth'…" Bobby says, his turn to smile.

.

In the back of the house, Ellen is waiting in the middle of the house patio, a sharp stake in her hands, aimed in front of her. A woman, in her forties, stands on the door step. "I'm not a vampire, Dear… This will just hurt my meat suite, not getting rid of me… Are you a Christian? Are you praying?... No, I suppose you don't… And that's why this will be so easy for me to get to you…"

"I will take my chances… 'Acedia', right?…" Ellen whispers, making the Demon laugh.

"At your service…" She slowly closes the door behind her.

Ellen rushes towards her and drives her weapon right in the middle of her chest, going even all the way through the door. Before 'Acedia' could grab her, she makes some steps back out of reach. The Demon starts to struggle to get rid of the stick, but strangely her arms can't get away from the door, like there are glued to it.

"This is not common to draw a Devil's trap vertically, but I guess that will do for this case…" Ellen softly laughs.

.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

On the second floor, in another room, Sam and Eli are waiting, all their senses in alert. The door suddenly explodes into pieces, three Demons showing up. "Here's Johnny!..." 'Pride' joyfully exclaims, opening his arms wide.

The three Sins are staring at the couple in from of them, a delightful look on their faces. Sam & Eli are slowly making small steps back to attract them, but they spot the trap before marching in it. "Come on… You really think something like that is gonna fool someone like me?... I mean, me?..." The pompous Demon boasts. With a small gesture of his hand, a crack appears in the floor, instantly making the pitfall ineffective. "What a delightful view for my wonderful eyes... Sam Winchester and Eli Singer in the flesh… Oh, I've heard a lot about you… We all have… The King boy and the Queen girl…" He goes round the Demon's trap to approach them. "Looking at you now… I gotta tell you, don't believe all the hype… You really think I'm gonna bow in front of some low creatures like you?... I have my pride, after all?..." He bursts into laughter on his own joke. "Now, with your Yellow-Eyed Maker busy to fry in the flames of Hell, I don't have to do a damn thing, do I?... You are fair game now… And it's open season…" He grabs Sam, spinning him around and circling his neck with his arm. The young man starts to choke. Eli wants to come to the rescue, but in a split second the two other Demons are immobilizing her. "Don't be impatient, my Dear… It won't take me more than a minute to finish with this one… You will follow your beloved one very soon…" 'Pride' grins, tightening his grip.

.

All of a sudden, coming out of nowhere, a blond woman in a leather jacket smashes what's left over of the door with a violent boot kick. One of the Demon lets Eli loose, willing to stop the newcomer. But, he didn't see the knife she has already in her hand. She slits the Sins' throat in a swift movement. A bright light comes out of his open neck and the Demon falls flat on his back, warm blood gargling out.

Taking advantage of the situation, Eli gives a headbutt on the other Demon's nose. But, it seems not affecting her much. She gives her a knock back on the cheek, soon followed by others. Her head's banging against the wall as each swing. Eli finally slides down, unconscious.

The blond rescuer sticks her knife into the Demon's back, directly followed by another throat slashing, getting rid of two Sins in less than a minute.

But, she does not notice that 'Pride' had totally overcome Sam and was now already behind her. He encircles her, making her drop the knife on the floor. She struggles, pushing the Demon against the opposite wall. Sam is coughing hard, trying to take back is breath. With what's left of his energy, he nevertheless grabs the knife from the floor. "Bend!" He screams with a husky voice at the blond woman and in one jump, pushes the weapon up to the hilt in Pride's neck. The Demon struggles for a few seconds, making some uncoordinated movements with his hands before falling first on his knees and then flat on his belly.

.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam asks their leather dressed savior, feeling still a little numb from the fight.

"I'm just a girl that saved your asses." She answers, already at the door. "See you around you two!..."

"Hey… Wait…" Sam calls, following her in the hallway, but she was nowhere to be found.

He goes back to check on Eli; slowly waking her up with small pats on her cheeks and quickly checking her body for wounds.

"Gosh, my head hurts like an A-bomb just went off in it…" She rubs her bruised skull. She looks around to discover the three Demons dead on the floor. "Waouw!… You did some serious cleaning… Thanks, I think I owe you..." She softly smiles.

"Don't mention... And, to be honest, I got some help…"

"Oh, you saw her too?… That blond girl?... It was kind of blurry, so I thought I dreamed it… Who was she?"

"Dunno… She vanished before I could talk to her… Lets go back down, see if nobody's harmed... " He helps her up and holds her by the waist to go back downstairs.

.

At daylight, the guys have graved a hole at the back of the house to lay down the corpses of the possessed humans that didn't make it after the exorcism. They spread salt and gasoline all over them.

"You look like hell…" Dean says to Bobby.

"You try exorcising all night, see how you feel…" The old man answers, rolling his eyes.

"Any survivors?" Sam requests.

"The pretty blond girl and the heavy ugly guy… They'll make it… Lifetime of therapy bills ahead, but still…"

"It's more than you can say for these poor bastards…" Dean lighting up a whole match box and throwing it in the grave.

.

From a distance, Eli makes a discreet gesture with her hand at Sam to attract his attention. She shies away, wanting to have a talk with him in private. He follows her near their car.

"How are you feeling?... You're seemed to be really tense since our return from Nebraska…"

"I'm okay… It's just everything that happened… You, deadly hurt… That deal Dean made… The Gate… The way the Yellow-Eyed took power over me so easily… I start to question myself on who I really am… And if the Demon blood in me is gonna affect me now that it seems to be sorta activated…"

"Don't be silly... Eli, nothing has been activated… Come on… I can understand that you're mad and probably sad about everything that happened lately… But thinking you could be a sort of Demon's progeny… Please…" As she was turning his back on him, he takes her by the arm to make her face him again. "Look at me… I've demon blood in my veins too, remember?… Did you see any changes in my behavior?... Did I look weirder to you?..." She nods 'no'. "So, stop making stupid theories and let's concentrate on our fight… War just started... We need to stay focused and stick together..."

"Yeah, you're probably right… As always…" Eli softly smiles at him, pushing momentarily deep down all her concerns. "By the way, I was also replaying in my head the whole scene that happened upstairs… That Miss Nobody suddenly erupting out of Zion... She killed those Demons with just a knife in her hands… What kind of blade can kill a Demon?..."

"Yesterday, I'd told you that there was no such thing… Now, since the Gate opened, I suppose all the cards have changed… We can't be surprise that besides the Colt, other weapons exists…"

"But, why did we never heard or read about it?… I never heard my father telling me tales about anything like that… And he knows a lot about those things…"

"I know… I've also check my Dad's journal and there is nothing else mentioned in there that vaguely something about the Samuel Colt's story…"

"And who is she? A hunter?... Where does she comes from?..."

"I don't know, Eli… Really, I don't know… It's not like we can check in a Hunter's directory or something... I suppose we'll see her around someday... At least that's what she told me before vanishing... But, I have another important question…" He looked at her, concerned. "If we let out the Seven Deadly Sins… What else did we let out?"

.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A week later, after the encounter with the Seven Sins, Sam and Dean are following a new lead on a probable new Demon presence. Sam is alone in a restaurant, waiting for Dean to come back from the Town hall, where he's gathering some Intel. He is reading and taking notes from a copy of an ancient document on his laptop.

The entrance bell jingles and from the corner of his eye, he sees a person coming over and sitting in front of him. "Hello, Sam…" The mysterious blond woman says.

"You've been following me since Lincoln…" Sam simply answers, not showing any surprise to meet her again.

She claps the cover of the computer down. "Not much gets by you, huh?... Mmmm… Those are amazing!... You should try some…" She jokes, taking a French fries from his plate. "Where's Eli?"

"Not here... That knife you have… You can kill Demons with that thing?"

"Comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save the damsels in distress…" She smirks.

"Where did you get it?"

"Shop till you Drop dot com!…"

"Why are you following me?"

"I'm interested in you…"

"Why?"

"Because you're tall…" She giggles. "Seriously now… When I said 'You'… I meant both… Eli and you."

"Same question… Why?"

"Because of the whole Antichrist thing…"

"Excuse me?" He comes, stunned.

"You know, generation of psychic kids… Yellow-Eyed Demon rounds you up… Celebrity death match ensues… You are the sole survivors' whole shebang…"

"How do you know about all that?"

"I'm a good hunter… So, Yellow-Eyed had some pretty big plans for you, huh?…"

"Wrong use of tense... 'Had being' is the keyword… Lacking the latest news, Hunter?" He ironically answers.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… That's right… Ding-dong the Demon's dead… Good job with that… It doesn't change the fact that you're still special…"

"No… Our abilities seems to be vanished with it… Well, we didn't had any effects since Yellow-Eyed went down…"

"And my pinky finger tells me you are still a big deal… I mean, after all that business with your moms…"

"What about our moms?" Sam asks her, a harsh look on his face.

"Come on… At least, you know what happened to your mother friends, right?..." Seeing that he seems not to understand what she's talking about, she continues. "You don't know?… Seriously?... Well, you've got a little bit of catching up to do, my friend…" She takes his hand and the pen on the table. "So, why don't you look into this and then give me a call back… And we'll talk again…"

"And what about Eli's mother?"

"See ya later…" She leaves the table, waving at him from the exit door.

He looks at his hand. "Ruby…" He whispers, writing down her phone number in his notebook.

After some hesitation, he decides not to talk about this meeting neither to his brother or Eli. First, he'd like to make for investigation and have some proof of what's she alleges.

.

Later that day, Sam is on his own again and takes the opportunity to some research. He starts to list all the names that he finds in his father's journal and calls them one after the other.

After two hours, all the lines on his paper were scrapped down. All of their parents friends and farther family members died in odd circumstances. Phil Jones, the police Chief that inquires their house fire in Lawrence, Robert Campbell, one of his mom's cousin, Doctor Wallace and his wife. Not a single one still alive. "Oh my God…" He sighs.

He grabs his phone again and now calls Ruby. "I check on what you told me… Everyone who knew my mother systematically wiped off the map, one at a time… Someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble trying to cover their tracks…"

"Did you already talk to Eli about all this?..."

"No, not yet… Why?..."

"Better leave it as is for now… She deals with enough right now, don't you think?…"

"How come you know so much about us?…"

"Not on the phone… Meet me at the bus station at 3AM tonight… Can you manage that?..."

"Yeah… I'll be there…"

.

The bus station is deserted. Sam is waiting outside, looking at his watch. "3:05 AM… Oh, come on…"

"Don't be so impatient… I'm here already…" She comes from behind, making him slightly jump in surprise.

"So, how did you know about my mother's friends faith?... Who is behind this?..." He briskly asks her.

"Yellow-Eyes of course…"

"And what's your deal in this?... You show up where we are… You seemed to know all about us and our families…"

"I already told you… I'm just…" She softly laughs.

"Yeah, right… Just some hunter who happens to know more about my mother than I do… Tell me who you are, Ruby?... If that is really your name…"

"It is… And it doesn't really matter who I really am…"

"It matters to me… Who are you?..." He raises his voice.

"Sam…"

"WHO ARE YOU?" He starts to look threatening.

"Fine…" She turns her eyes into complete black. Sam freaks out and goes for any weapon in his backpack. "Think twice before going for that Holy Water…"

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't…"

"I'm here to help you…"

"Is that some kind of joke?" He says, backing off from her.

"Don't be such a racist… I'm here because I wanna help you, seriously… But, I only can if you trust me…"

"Trust you?..."

"Sam… Calm down…"

"Start talking… All those murders, what was the Demon trying to cover up?..."

"I don't know…"

"Why were Eli and I chosen?... What's those Demons' master plan?..."

"I honestly don't know… All I know is that it's all connected to both of you… And all that cover up of events is just so you cannot figure out what they did to you… I'm here to help you to find out… "

"Why would you wanna help us?..."

"I have my reasons… Not all Demons are the same, Sam… Not all of us want the same thing… Me? I wanna help you from time to time… That's all… And if you let me, there's something in it for you…"

"What could you possibly do?..."

"I could help you save Dean…"

.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

After his secret meeting with Ruby, Sam enters the motel room as silently as possible. He puts his backpack on the floor and starts to undress, giving from time to time a quick glimpse at his sleeping brother.

"Where were you been?" Dean suddenly voices, as his brother just slips between the sheets.

"Out… I needed some fresh air…"

"At three in the morning?..."

"I needed to think, okay…"

"Think about what?..." The elder insists, turning on the bedside lamp. "Who is she?..."

"You followed me?... Damned!… Can't I have a little bit of a private life sometimes?…" He lies.

"You don't have one..."

"How long did you spy on us?"

"Not long... Just to find out it's not a girlfriend or a hooker..."

"Classy!... And how did you jump to those conclusions, Doctor Watson?..."

"You didn't kiss her…"

"What?..."

"When you saw her… You weren't especially trilled to see her… I know you're a weird ass, but… Come on…"

"Okay… She's not a girlfriend… So what?... Can't I just talk to someone?..."

"No… Don't fool me, Sam… What's her name?..."

"Ruby…"

"Ruby… And why is she following you around?... I recognized her going out of that restaurant this morning…"

Sam sighs heavily. "She's the one that saved our asses in Lincoln…"

"She's a hunter?... Where's she from?... Did you ask her about that Demon-Killer knife?..."

"She's not a normal hunter, Dean… She's…" He still hesitates to tell him the whole truth. "Dean, promise me you won't explode about what I'm gonna tell you…"

"I'm listening… What could I possibly explode about a girl?…"

"She's a Demon…"

"WHAT?" Dean yells, jumping out of bed in a split second.

"Dean… Will you please calm down…"

"To calm down?... Are you frigging serious?... You're having a secret rendezvous in the middle of the night with a Demon and you just say this like you had some tea party?..."

"Why do I even bother to tell you all this?... You're obviously not ready for new ideas…"

"And you know why?... Because the word 'Demon' was in your sentence, that's why!… Because the second you find out this Ruby chick was one of them, you go for the Holy Water!… You don't chat with it!…"

"No one was chatting, Dean…"

"Oh yeah?... Then why didn't you send her ass back to Hell?..."

"Because she said she might be able to help us out…"

"How?... No, really Sammy, how?... How could she possibly help us?..."

"She told me she could help you out of the Crossroad's deal…"

"What in heaven is wrong with you, man?... She's lying… You gotta know that by now, don't you? She knows what your weakness is… It's me… What else did she say?..."

Sam sighs again.

"Dude, what else did she say?..."

"Nothing, okay!… Look, I'm not an idiot... I'm not talking about trusting her… I'm talking about using her… I mean, we're at war, right?... We don't know jack about the enemy… We don't know where they are, what they're doing, what they want… Now, this Ruby girl knows more than we will ever find out on our own… Now, yes, it's a risk, I know that… But, we need to take it…"

"I don't know, Sam… This could all be another one of their tricks… We have to be careful…" Dean says, finally calming down and sitting back on his bed.

.

In the meantime, at Sioux Falls, Bobby, in front of his desk, is trying to figure out a way to fix the Colt. He found an old plan in one of his books. Eli is sitting next to him, making some new bullets for it.

"Sweetcake, will you please pass me those pliers…"

"Am I not a little too old for my dad to use nicknames?"

"The ones with the red handles, please…" He sighs, rolling his eyes.

She hands him over the out of reach tool. "You really think you'll be able to make it work again?..."

"No idea… Let's just pray for some luck in it…"

.

A few hours later in the backyard, Bobby is aiming the center of a target painted on a sandbag, hanging on a branch. First shoot, he misses the bag. He files down the trigger a bit and tries again. This time is pierces it a bit on the side.

"Let me try, Dad…" Eli asks.

"Pumpkin, that thing can blow in your pretty face…"

"Ballonies!... Just admit you're afraid to see me reaching the target… Because you know damn well I'm a better shooter than you…" She smiles.

"Easy there, Young Lady!… You still owe your old father some respect… And I surely still can spank your butt to a nice shade of red if necessary!..." He tells her, only half-joking.

She makes him a phony smile and grabs the Colt out of his hands. But, she also misses the target, making Bobby chuckling.

"The sight needs to get centered a little bit more on the right…" She claims, unabashed, letting him file it as requested.

She fires again, finally touching the second circle of the target. "A little bit more, please…" Handing him the gun for another stroke.

"Cute piece…" A blond woman voices, suddenly appearing from behind the sandbag.

"Who the hell are you?..." Eli asks, aiming at the stranger.

"Now I'm offended… Don't you recognize me?..." Ruby pouts.

"Lincoln…" She whispers.

"Tada!... And put that thing away from me, will you… Even if it won't kill any Demons for now… If that's what you are trying to do here…"

"And how could you possibly know that?..." Bobby flings.

"Well, call it an educated guess…" She turns her eyes into total black.

"Dad, I think it is our lucky day… Just what we needed... A real subject for the final test fire…" Eli pulling the trigger again.

"Luck has nothing to do with it, Honey... But hey, take your best shoot…" Ruby opening her arms wide.

"Okay…" With no other hesitation and at her father surprise, Eli shoots her right in the middle of the chest.

"Outch!... It tickles a bit…" The blond just says, not moving back an inch.

"What do you want?..." Bobby asks her.

"A new shirt…" She smiles, showing the hole in the middle of it. "Now, do you want me to help you out with that gun or not?..."

.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

In about 3 hours and with Ruby's help, the Colt is fixed. "It's time for me to go now…" She says, already at the door.

"You're sure it'll work?..." Bobby asks, a little suspicious.

"Try it… You'll find out… But not on me, okay?..." She smiles.

"If someone had told me one day I'd work with a Demon, I would have knocked him out in no time for blasphemy…"

"Times are changing, Bobby… But, if you could hush up my 'condition' for a while… You know, I don't think Dean is ready to hear this yet…" She smiles.

The old man just mumbles, still inspecting the 'new' Colt.

.

Eli is outside, waiting for Ruby to come out. "I'd like to know one thing… And try not to lie this time…"

"Aoutch, your comments really hurts my feelings…"

"Stop the crap for a second, will you?… Why are you helping us out?..."

"Ah... The million dollar question… Let's just say I have my reasons… Like you must have yours to accept my help like you do…"

"Don't be so sure of that… To be honest, I'm just using you… And just because you know a trick or two… But, give me one good reason or the right occasion and I'll send you straight back where you belong…"

"Fair enough… But let me give you one little detail, Darling… I have the possibility to get Dean out of his deal… That's my insurance you won't be too quick to send me back…"

"What's make you think that this will be sufficient for me to spare you?... And what if I don't give a flying shit about him anymore…"

"That's a good one!..." Ruby bursts into laughter. "Who is the liar now?..."

"Did you tell Sam about the possible way you have to save his brother?..."

"No, he deals with enough right now… Let's keep this between us for the moment, will you?... See you around, Eli…" She disappeared between the wreckage's in the yard.

Eli grabs her phone in her jeans pocket, looking for Sam's number. But, she stops just before pushing the 'call' button, thinking on what Ruby just told her. "Yeah, maybe better to wait for a bit... Just to be sure that she really can do what she pretends… No need to give him false hopes…" She says to herself, clapping the cover closed.

.

A few days later, in the course of one of his Internet searches, Sam falls on some weird events in Ohio.

"Might've found something… Dry lightning, barometric pressure drop… People having bizarre attitudes..." He tells Dean, slumped in the couch watching a football game on television.

"That's thrilling…" The elder mumbles, sipping on his bottle of beer.

"Would you be more enthusiastic if I add that the article is talking about a guy blowing his head off in a church and another going postal in a library, killing four people before the cops take him out?... Could be demonic omens?…"

"Or could be a suicide and a psycho book hatter…" Dean still not convinced.

"Maybe… But it's our best lead since Lincoln…"

"I'll go check with you if you want…" Eli entering the living room.

"Where in Ohio?..." Dean asks.

"Elizabethville!" Sam smiles, looking at her.

"Now that makes it for me… Definitively an omen there!" Dean jokes.

"Where exactly is it in Ohio?" Eli asks, giving the elder a knock on his shoulder.

"It's a half-dead factory town in the rust belt…" Sam continues to read from his papers.

"Why is there never a Demon in South Beach or something?..." Dean complains. "Okay then, let's do this… At least here is maybe the occasion to test if the Colt is still useful…"

.

As soon as the brothers arrive in town; they discover that it is ruled by two Demons, disguised as a priest and a bartender. Sam & Dean immediately set a trap to attract them in the basement of an abandoned house and with no other remorse shoot them down with the Colt.

"So, it is working against Demons again, huh?… Bobby, you're a genius!" Dean chuckles, playing with the still smoking gun like a cowboy.

"Didn't you find this case a little too easy to handle?" Sam wonders.

"Nah!... That's because we're becoming good at it…"

"Hum…"

"What?..."

"I don't know, Dean… Demons are normally more cautious and vicious… Even the low leveled ones... These two just jumped into our thing like rabbits trapped in headlights…"

"And?..."

"And nothing… It just appears weird to me…"

Dean just shrugs while putting their gear back in their duffels, ready to drive back home.

The brothers don't notice the little girl watching them from a window on the second floor of the house.

.

At the same time, Ruby pays another visit to Eli. "You won't find any answers in any of those old dusty books, my Dear…" She says from behind, making Eli startle.

"How did you get in here?..."

"Through the door, like any normal person… You're being sloppy… You forgot to salt it when your father left…"

"What do you want?" She sighs impatiently.

"Nothing… Just a courtesy call to a good friend…" Ruby smirks, sitting on a chair next to her.

"I ain't your friend…"

"Oh please, quit the attitude!… You just sounded like a bad Dean improvisation… Now, you know what would be interesting to look for?"

"No… But, are you really gonna tell me or is this another of your lousy jokes?…"

"Did you already check into your mother's death?..." The blond Demon drops.

"Why would I do that?... I already know what happened… Yellow-eyes killed her when I was a baby…" Eli answers, avoiding looking at her.

"Oh, for Hell's sake, call him by his name already!..." She flings.

"Okay... The bastard that killed my mom... Happy?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Whatever... But, are you sure he did it?... It's your father's side of the story, right?"

"And I trust him, okay…" She raises her voice.

"Honey… Remember, I'm here to help you…" She places a hand over Eli's to calm her down. "I know, sometimes humans prefer to look the other way or hiding the pain deep inside… When it is too hard to bear in the open… But, for me, the truth gives you often unexpected strengths… It's better for the head and for the body… You can finally find some relief, some peace… Oh Eli, you have so much inside of you… Good stuff, useful stuff… But you need to let yourself go to them…"

"What do you mean?... Our abilities left us with Azazel…"

"Don't be so sure of that… But, I'm already telling you too much here…"

"Will it help to get Dean out of his deal?"

"It will first clear your mind… Have some advantage to fight that war… And that already a lot…" The two women suddenly hear the roar of en engine arriving in the drive way. "Gotta go for now… Think on what I told you…"

Eli stands up, looks through the window to see who's arriving and recognizes the Impala.

.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sam sees some light coming under Eli's bedroom door. He softly knocks. "Yeah?..." She asks.

"It's Sam… May I come in?" He answers in a low voice.

"Sure…" She quickly hides the file she was reading under her pillow before he opens the door. "Hi… How was my namesake town?... Nice and flowery again?..." She jokes.

"It's back on track now that we washed it clean from Demons… And the Colt works…"

"I know… Dean told me… What's wrong? You seem preoccupied…" She gently pets the side of her bed to invite him to sit next to her.

"Well… I need to talk to you about something… You remember that young woman that helped us in Lincoln?"

"Yeah…What about her?..." She starts to slightly panic, not sure if Sam suspects she already knows Ruby.

"She came to talk to me… While we were in Ohio… And she said some really disturbing things… About my mom… I didn't believe her at first… But, I made some research and it checked out… All my mother's friends and relatives are dead in the last 20 years… Like someone, patiently, wanted to cover his tracks…"

"So, she knows things about the Yellow-eyes Demon and us?… What now?"

"I think she has way more info about us than she really say… She even told me she could save Dean from his deal…" He scoffs in disbelieve.

She suddenly lowers her gaze. "Sam… I need to confess something too… Ruby also came for a visit while you were gone…"

"Why didn't you tell me?..."

"Because she asks me not to… And why didn't you tell me, huh?... You saw her first..." She says for her defense.

"I'm here, am I not?…" He raises his voice, before holding up his hands in a peace sign. "Okay, let's not fight over a Demon… Did she tell you something interesting?..."

"The same as you about she could help on Dean's deal… She's also the one that fixed the Colt, by the way… And about our abilities… She says that there are still inside of us and that we could still use them if we need…"

"And… You've tried?"

"Yeah… But nothing happened… So, I'm really wondering if any of what she's telling us has some truth in it…"

"Well, at least what she said about my mom was right…"

"That's what I'm saying… She might have some Intel, using it to make us believe she knows more and giving us some faults facts in between… We have to be careful, Sam… She is a Demon after all…"

"I know… Promise me that from now on you will tell me everything about her… And I will do the same…"

"Okay, I will… Buy, maybe it'll be also good she doesn't know we're sharing it…"

"Yeah, the less she knows the better…" He rises from the bed.

"Sam?... Wait..." She grabs his hand.

"What?"

"Did you also tried to use... You know, your thing?..."

"It's not like I could switch it on when I wanted... It often came to me unnoticed... But since Yellow-Eyes died, no other flashes came up... So, it makes me think it's gone..."

"But, I really can't get over it that maybe we still have... Sam, it terrifies me... And it's killing me not knowing what all this war is about and what those Demons are expecting from us..."

Sam sits down again and takes her in his arms. "Like I already told you, Eli... Never forget that the most important is that we have each other... That together, we are strong... All is going to be fine..." He kisses her forehead.

They stay like that for a while, rocking back and forth. Sam slowly tightens his embrace, shoving his head down, coming closer to her mouth. Eli lifts her eyes, staring at him a bit confused. "Ahum..." He clear his throat, pushing her gently away. "I'm totally wasted... I need some good sleep for once…" He rapidly goes for the door. "Good night, Eli…" He says before closing it behind him.

"Good Night, Sam…" She whispers, baffled from what just happened.

.

The next morning, Bobby sends the boys out for some 'special' shopping. He starts to fall short on certain uncommon items. Last encounters with Demons have seriously eating into his stock. Since it's kind of 'Radio Silent' playing on the Demon's waves, he found it opportune to let them have some fresh air, doing something more ordinary. Also, he must admit, he dreams of a day on his own. Everyone seems to be on edge lately and he has enough of the constant arguments and all the yelling and the drama that goes with it. He wants some peace in his house, at least for a few hours.

.

In the car, Sam is searching the best way to tell Dean about a plan he made up last night.

"I made some thinking… And maybe getting you out of that deal could be easier than we think…" He awkwardly starts.

"What did I already told you about that, huh?... We are not doing anything concerning my deal…"

"I don't understand, Dean… Why not?"

"Because I said so…"

"Dean, we've got the Colt back on track… So, why couldn't we…"

"Sam…" Dean warns him.

"We can summon the Crossroad's Demon… Force her to let you out…"

"For Christ sake!... We're not summoning anything… Come on… We don't know if that'll work…" The elder raising his voice.

"Well, we'll shoot her… If she dies, the deal goes away, right?…" Sam now yelling, irritated that his brother doesn't even want to consider his plan.

"I repeat: We don't know if that'll work!... You're pitching me a bunch of 'ifs' and 'maybes' and that's not good enough... And you wanna know why?... Well, because if we screw with the deal... News flash, Buddy!... Eli and you, you'll both die with me!" Dean now flying off the handle.

"How so, we both die with you?..."

"Yeah… You know, one of the small lines at the bottom of the contract… The ones you never read… Well, Crossroad's bitch explained them to me to be sure I know exactly where I'll put my feet in… If I'm doing anything, and she insists on anything, to get out of the deal… Not only you die, but she'll takes Eli's soul as a bonus!... You get it now?..."

"But, if we don't do anything… You die…"

"SAM, ENOUGH!... I'm not gonna have this conversation over and over…"

"Why? Because you said so?"

"Yes, because I said so?"

"Well, you are not Dad…"

"No, but I am the oldest… And I'm doing what's best for everyone… You're gonna let this go, you understand me?"

Sam, his arms crossed over his chest, temporarily quitting the conversation.

.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Eli, are you still willing to help me to put Dean out of his deal?" Sam whispers to her, helping to clear up the kitchen table while Bobby and Dean are having a whiskey in the other room.

"Yes, of course… Did you find a way?... Did Ruby finally tell you how to do it?"

"Not really… But, I thought this through for a few days now... And it wouldn't be a bad idea if we start where it all began… Let's say, we pay a little visit to that Crossroad Demon… Asking her some questions and see what she has to say… We have the Colt working again and enough bullets to have some leverage… It's a fair try, don't you think?..."

"Well, Yeah... We need to try anything… So, I'm with you… When do you want us to go?…"

"Tonight…"

"Tonight?... Dean is on his guard since you told him the 'Ruby is a Demon' thing... He is often checking what we're up to also... I even suspect him having searched my bedroom... Yeah, I discover some misplaced things..."

"I know... He is suspicious lately... But, don't worry about that... We just came back from a three days' trip with practically no sleep… So, I'm sure he will collapse in no time tonight…"

"We can also help them both to have a nice long nap..."

"You want to drug them?... That is a little bit extreme, don't you think?..." Sam looking at her slightly surprised of her harsh behavior.

"Hum... As you wish..." She shrugs. "I'll get a car ready to run… Let's say 2am, at the north fence… Is that okay?"

"Fine… I'll meet you up there…"

.

When he is certain that Dean is fast asleep, Sam slowly picks up his jacket and sneaks out of their bedroom.

Eli is already waiting for him in a car at the foretold meeting point. They push it down the road before starting the engine, to assure the silence of their runaway.

.

They drive for about 2 hours before reaching the Crossroad. Once there, they grave a little hole in the middle, put a box in the ground with some of their personal belongings and starts to look around for the Demon to show up.

"Well, well, well… What a pleasant surprise... Isn't this the sweet Elizabeth Singer and her dear loving Sam Winchester…" A female voice suddenly says, coming from behind them. "I'm deeply touched… I mean, Dean coming to see me twice, it's kind of normal for that crying baby... But you... And together to top it all… I never could imagine to have such an honor one day… What can I do for you, my lovebirds?... I am at your entire service..." The Crossroad Demon talking with a wheedling tone.

"You can start betting for your life…" Sam blandly answers, while Eli aims the Colt at her head.

"Awh!... We were having such a nice conversation… Then you do this and ruin the mood…" She looks dagger at Eli.

"If I were you, I'd drop the wisecracks and start acting scared…" Eli says to counter the Demon threatening attitude.

"It's not my style, Sweetheart…" The woman scoffs. "Wait a minute... This is not the original Colt…Where did you get that?"

"None of your business…" Sam staying stoic.

"Oh, silly me… Ruby of course… Has to be… She is such a pain in my ass… But one day, she'll get what's coming to her… You can count on it…" The Demon says after some thinking.

"Enough!... We came here to make you an offer…" Sam says.

"You gonna make ME an offer?... That is so adorable…" She softly laughs.

"You let Dean out of his deal right now… He lives, Eli lives, I live and you live… Everyone goes home happy or…"

"…You stop breathing… Permanently…" Eli finishing Sam sentence and pulling the trigger of the gun to make the point really clear.

"Oh… All that tough talk coming out of your mouths… I have to tell you, it's not very convincing… I mean, come on… Do you even really wanna break that deal?..."

"What do you think?" Sam's slightly taken by surprise.

"I don't know… Aren't you tired of cleaning up Dean's messes? Or dealing with that broken psyche of his? Aren't you tired of being bossed around like snot-noses?... Or your feelings crushed by this miserable butch?... Oh, open your eyes, you are so much stronger… You're both way better than him… Let him go..."

"Watch your mouth, Lady!... I'm getting very nervous all of sudden… You know, the shoot could go off accidentally…" Eli says, shaking the barrel under the Demon's nose.

"Admit it… You're here, going through the notions… The truth is you'll be a tiny bit relieved when he's gone…"

"Shut up!..." Sam shouts out.

"No more desperate, sloppy, needy Dean… You can finally be free… Free of being together... Free to love each..." The Demon continues.

"I SAID… SHUT UP!" He cuts her.

"Huh!…" She shrugs. "Too much passionate protest for me to believe you're really honest about it, if you ask me…"

"All right, we've had enough of your crap… You let Dean out of his deal, right now!..." Eli menaces.

"Sorry, Sweetheart… But he's an adult… He made that deal of his own free will… Fair and square… It's ironclad…"

"Every deal can be broken…" Sam lifting an arm in Eli's direction to make sure she'll still stick to his plan.

"Not this one… I'm afraid…"

"Fine, then you are not giving us any other choice…" He giving a quick look to Eli. "If you're gone, so is the deal… Easy as that…"

"Ha! Guess again, Handsome… I'm just a saleswoman… I got a boss like everybody… He holds the contract, not me… And unfortunately, he wants Dean's soul, bad… Believe me, he is not gonna let it go…"

"She's bluffing, Sam… I can feel it..."

"Am I?... Shoot me, if it'll get you off… But the deal still holds… And when Dean's time is up, he'll be dragged into the pit by the Hell-hounds…"

"Then tell us who's your boss?... Who holds the contract?..." Sam asks.

"He's not as cuddly as me, I can tell you that…"

"So, it's a man..."

"I didn't say that..."

"Who is he?"

"I can't tell you… I'm sorry… But, the sure thing is that there's no way out of it… Not this time…"

Sam sighs and turns his back on the Demon. "I'm afraid, you're useless to us now..." He coldly says, nodding once his head, giving the sign to Eli to make her move. She coldly shoots her right between the eyes.

Before leaving the area, they're both towering above the Crossroad's Demon corpse. Sam pushing it with his boot to assure she didn't move anymore. They look at each other, a smile of pure wickedness on their faces.

.

Returned from their secret mission, as silently as possible, they go back to each other's room. "Not a word about this to anyone…" Sam just says to Eli before she closes her door.

.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Dean enters the living room where Eli tidies some books on different shelves. He seems to chew over something, looking around for some imaginary object.

"You've lost something?... Maybe I misplaced it, since I'm doing some cleaning here…" Eli says without turning around to face him.

"Hum… It's been some days now that I'm wondering… Don't you have anything to tell me?..."

"It's not your birthday, right?…" She smiles.

"No…"

"Heu… Happy Purim?..." She puts down the pile of books she still has in her arms to finally look at him. "Dean, I have no idea what you're talking about… And I still cannot read in other people's mind… Whatever freaky things you think I'm capable off… " She comes impatiently.

"There's a bullet missing from the Colt… Wanna tell me how that happened?..."

"Why do you ask me?"

"Because I'm asking you…"

"I'm not the one playing around with that gun lately…"

"You could have encounter some incredible evil cans and shoot them…"

"Ha... Ha..." She shrugs at the stupid comment and returns to her book filing.

"You know, you could have just told me that you didn't use the Colt and I would have believed you… But, you didn't…"

"So?... What's your point?"

"My point is that I suspect Sam and you to have been after the Crossroads Demon… Didn't you?..."

"What make you think that?"

"Well, first I told Sam not to… And for good reasons… But, lately he's having that strange habit to do the opposite of what I ask him to do… And second I've also noticed that since Lincoln, you two had several private little chats… Very cozy chats... I'm wondering what kind of secret you're hiding…"

"This is so ridiculous... You're playing jealous guy now?..."

"Yeah, right… Totally me!..." He chuckles.

"You know, I really start to have enough of that attitude of yours!... And who give you the right to search my bedroom, huh?... What did you think you would have found in there?... You think I'm doing drugs or something?..." She flings.

"You tell me..."

"Get lost!... I don't owe you any explanation or anything... Not anymore..."

"That's true... But don't involve my brother in your crap... Now seriously, did you or did you not go see the Crossroad Demon?" Dean raising his voice.

"We did… And it was my idea… Not Eli's… So, leave her alone…" Sam's voice coming from behind him.

"And here enters the knight in his white shinning armor..." Dean taunts.

"Don't start... I don't wanna fight with you... I did what I though good to do, that's all..." Sam weighting his words to lower his brother's anger.

"For Christ's sake, why?... You could have gotten yourself killed…"

"We didn't…"

"And?... You shot her?..."

"She was playing smart-ass…" Eli says.

"So, what does it mean?… I'm out of my deal?"

"Don't you think we might have mentioned that little fact, Dean?... No… Someone else holds the contract…" Sam explains

"Who?"

"She wouldn't say…"

"Well, we should find out who… Of course, our best lead would be... The Crossroad Demon… Oh, wait a minute…" Dean comes ironically.

"That's not funny…"

"No, it's not... It was a stupid risk and you shouldn't have done it!"

"We shouldn't have done it?... Damned, Dean… You're my brother… And willing or not, Eli and I gonna continue to try to save you… And we're sure as hell not gonna apologize for it, all right?"

Dean rushes out of the room, grabbing his car keys and slamming the door on his way out.

.

He drives aimlessly, thinking about his situation. Already six month has passed since he made the deal and he doesn't give himself a very good report. He constantly fights with his brother instead of having the most intense moments together. Despite the fact that he is a free man, he cannot stop thinking about Eli. Thing that makes him triple mad because he does not want to admit he still loves her, plain and simple. And to top all that, he feels extra stupid to be jealous over his own brother, when he knows deep down that Sam just wants to protect Eli, like a family member would do.

Despite all that, there is something that is bothering him. That weird behaviors his brother and Eli starting to sometimes have. Their muttered conversations, the way they look at each other, like they can communicate without words, the way he often sees Eli acting like she is under Sam's command.

Something is going on with those two, he is practically sure of it. He just don't know what it is yet. Or maybe he prefer looking the other way.

.

He parks his car at the end of a road, in front of a river. Taking a beer from the six-pack he bough earlier, passing by a liquor shop, he sits on the hood and just watch the scenery.

Half his beer down, he hears some branches cracking on his left. He turns his head and sees Ruby coming from behind the trees. "I come in peace..." She says, putting her hands in front of her. "I just wanna talk with you..."

"About what?... We don't have much in common you and me..." He nervously comes.

"I know you're asking yourself a lot of questions... Maybe I can give you some answers..."

"Not sure I'm buying... Demons have that unfortunate habit of lying..."

"Some do... Some are true believers..."

"Believers in what?... You have a God down there?..." Dean burst out.

"Sure… His name is Lucifer…"

"You mean the Devil?"  
>"Your word, not ours… Lucifer actually means 'Light bringer'… Look it up…"<p>

"Lucifer's really real?" Dean handing her over a bottle, that she kindly refuses with a gesture of the hand.

"Well, no one's actually seen him. But, they say that he made us into what we are... And that he'll return soon…" She explains.

"Mmmm… Speaking of downstairs… What's it like down there?"

"What? Hell?... You're not gonna like it, Dean… It's a pit of despair… Why do you think we all want to come here?..."

"Well good then, put me out of my deal..."

"Not that simple... Don't cross your bridges before you come to them..." She vaguely says.

"What do you want from Eli and my brother?"

"I want to protect them... Now, with Azazel dead, things are totally disorganized..."

"Azazel?"

"Yellow-Eyes had a name, you know... He was a tyrant, but he held it all together..."

"And what? No chain of command in your pit?"

"There was… It was Sam and Eli… Seriously... They were supposed to lead the big Army…"

"Thank God that didn't happen…"

"And look where we are now... You've got chaos, a war without a front. Hundreds of Demons, all jockeying for power. All fighting for the crown... Most of them gunning for your Brother and your girlfriend… Can I still call her that, by the way?... Whatever… That's why I'm offering you to help me to protect them... "

.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

At the house in Sioux Falls, the phone starts to ring. Eli runs down the stairs to pick it up. "Hello?..." She answers out of breath.

"Hi?... Bobby Singer, please…" An unknown man's voice says.

"I'm Eli Singer, his daughter… He's busy in the yard… Can I help you or take a message?"

"It's kinda personal and urgent…"

"Okay… Hold on a minute…" She goes outside and rings out the bell hanging at the roof of the porch.

"What?" Bobby yells, coming out from behind a pile of wrecked cars.

"Phone call… Urgent…"

He scrubs his hands on a dirty cloth and walk to the house. "Who is it?"

"Dunno… Didn't say…" Just before following her father back inside, her gaze is attracted by some light flashes coming from the left of the yard. She slowly approaches when she sees Ruby making signs to rejoin her.

.

"What do you want?" Eli briskly says.

"Always a pleasure to see you too, Hun…" Ruby answers, smiling. "I got a case… And I want you to come with me to handle it…"

"Oh, you want to team up with me now?..."

"Will you please stop that aggressive attitude towards me?... What's your problem?..."

"You know my problem…"

"You're still not over it… Yeah… I'm a Demon… Deal with it!"

"That's not it… I still don't know exactly what you want me to become…"

"What you are supposed to become!…"

"I already told you… I don't wanna be that…"

"I think you're stick with the idea 'being who you are is only meant to be going on a bad way'… You can use it for making good too, you know… But just ignoring what's inside of you, is an open door for higher in the food chain Demons to use your abilities... And that will be no blessing… They are already plotting to find you and get rid of you… They fear you, Eli… They know who you are… At least, you need to learn how to control this power… And use it properly to protect yourself… Getting prepared to fight those big bad-asses out there…"

"What's your case about?" Eli sighs.

"You will have to follow me to find out…" Ruby purrs.

"Give me at least the headlines… I need to tell my father if I'm leaving for a few days."

"It's better you don't say anything, Dear…"

"They are gonna find very quickly that I'm missing…"

"Then, don't waste any time… Let's go… We will be already far away… It's important, Eli… Really important…" Ruby insists, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Okay… Let me pack some stuff… Wait for me at the gate…"

"Your car is already waiting for you, Princess…" She smirks

.

Eli slowly comes out of her little nap. "Where are we?" She asks Ruby, stretching out.

"Entering Indiana… We're almost there…"

"You let me sleep the whole trip?... Why?"

"You need your strengths and it's not like I need the sleep of a normal human being." She smiles.

"Yeah, but you eat…"

"Occasionally… My meat-suit needs it, not me…"

"Are you finally gonna tell me what is your case about? And what we'll have to deal with?"

"Well, it is only a low graded Demon and I could have easily overcome it myself… But, I wanted you with me to start your training…"

"My training?... What?…" Eli is cut by the ring-tone of her phone. "Hello?"

"Where are you?..." A man's voice briskly says.

"Hi Sam… I'm on my way to Indiana… I…"

"Indiana?... You go on a case on your own? Without telling anybody?"

"Don't be mad, please… It's kinda special…"

"Tell me where you are exactly… I'm coming…"

"Sam, no… I assure you I won't be in any danger… It's even not Demon related…" She clumsily explains

"Eli!… Don't lie to me!..." His tone becoming more and more bossy.

"You'll have to trust me on this one…"

"Are you with her?" Sam lowering his voice.

"Yes… I promise I will call twice a day…" She adds to divert the conversation.

"What town in Indiana?..."

"Hum… Not sure yet…"

"NOT SURE YET? What's that's supposed to mean?... Eli, I don't like this!..."

"Sam, please stop… I'm fine… I'm an adult and you're not my father… Talk to you later!..." She suddenly claps the cover of her phone.

"He's kind of overprotective with you… You told him about me didn't you?"

"No… It's just… He's a bit on edge with Dean; his last year passing by so fast and we're still not having a clue how to get out of that deal and all…"

"Huhum…" Ruby nods, not really believing in what Eli said. "Well, I'm happy that you two getting closer…" She finally smiles.

"He just wants to play big brother, I guess..."

"Yeah... Big brother..." The blond demon giggles.

"You were saying that you wanna me to start training… Training on what?"

"It's time for you to realize the power you have in you… And what good things can be done with it…"

"Ruby… I'm not sure I'm ready for this…"

"Please, try it… Just try it and if you still don't like it, I promise we'll stop…"

"What is lesson one about?" Eli ironically asks.

"I'll explain everything went we get there…"

"Could you at least tell me the town we're heading?"

"Muncie, Indiana…"

.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"WHERE IS SHE?" Bobby angrily asks Sam.

"Somewhere in Indiana… She said it was not a case... That is was not Demon related…" The young man answers, dropping his phone on the table.

"And you believed her?... Damned, I really don't like the sound of all this… What's the matter with her?... Since Lincoln, she doesn't talk… She's totally closing up from me… She's lying, hiding things… And now running away without telling anybody... That's not my Eli!... You are going to tell me everything that happened to her when you were abducted in Cold Oak and what that Yellow-eyes did to her… Since it seems you are so close lately, she must have told you at least something more…"

"Bobby… Really… I don't know… She's not much more talkative with me... I don't know why you all think that..." Sam trying to calm the old man down.

"Yeah, sure..." Bobby not totally believing him. "I know a couple of hunters in Indiana… I'm gonna call them and see if they have heard of anything weird down there… And you, my boy, you'll find my daughter… NOW!... And do whatever it takes to worm everything out of her…" He flings before turning on his heels and walks away, shoving Dean in the process.

"What wrong with him?..." The elder asks.

"Eli left without telling anybody... And... She's with Ruby..."

"That doesn't sound good... Where's she left?"

"Somewhere in Indiana... She stayed vague on the phone..."

"Her phone, huh?..." Dean sits down in front of his brother's laptop, grabbing his own phone from one of his pockets. "Yeah, hello madam... Hum, my daughter lost her cell phone... We went to Indiana this weekend... Could you please activate the GPS so we can locate it?... The number is 555-6277-0109... The name is Betty Overcamp... Yes... Thank you very much... Have a nice day too..." He claps the cover and starts to type on the phone-company website. "Here... Muncie, Indiana..." He shows Sam a red dot flashing on and off on the screen.

"Nice work..." Sam says.

"Force of habit..." The elder smirks.

They both grab their jackets and jump in the Impala.

.

In a dark alley, Ruby and Eli are running after a young man. Not really knowing where he goes, he ends up in front of a huge wall, a deadlock. The two women slowly approach him. "You were right... A very clumsy one... This is way too easy..." Eli says in a smile.

"Not all of the Demons you released are 'la crème de la crème', Honey..." Ruby taking her knife from its sheath.

"Please... I wasn't doing anything wrong... Leave me alone!..." The Demon pleads.

"Oh, come on... Be a man!... If there is something I cannot stand in humans and Demons is cowardice... That just make me wanna puke..." She says, going behind him to tie up his wrists.

"So, what am I suppose to do now..." Eli asks.

"Okay... You focus on your target... You can help yourself by putting a hand in front of you... It helps to gather all the energy in one sort of beam... Concentrate on the fact you want to rip out the Demon in him... Like you would do with a shirt..." Ruby explains. Eli looks at her in complete disbelieve. "Try... I know you can do it..." She encourages her.

Eli stares at the Demon, pinned against the wall. She raises her arm, opening her hand towards him.

"That's it... Now accelerate your heartbeat... Let the blood travel through your brain... And feel the force that is dragged with it..." Ruby whispers.

"I can't do this..." Eli winces from a sudden searing headache.

"Yes, you can... You just started..."

"It's not right..." She stops, relieving the Demon from the pressure.

"ELI!... You can do it!... You have to!..." Ruby taking her by the shoulders, hardening the tone of her voice.

"You told me if I didn't wanna do this, that we'll stop..."

"No!... I said at least try... You didn't even start here!..." Without notice, she whacks her in the face.

Eli freezes for a moment. "You shouldn't have done that..." She grunts out, slowly turning her head to face Ruby, her eyes showing pure rage.

"Now you're ready..." The blond woman making a few steps aside.

Eli lifts her arm towards the young Demon again. His body instantly starts to shake, his month wide open, like he is going to vomit.

"It's working... One last effort, Eli..." Ruby whispers. The young man commences to scream, black smoke pouring out of him; slowly at first and then abundantly. He finally collapses in the middle of what's left over of the Demon. Ruby checks him out, putting two fingers on his jugular. "See Eli, the good in what you just did... The boy lives after your exorcism..." She smiles.

Eli leans against a pile of wooden boxes, taking back her breath and wiping away trails of blood under her nose.

.

"There are only three cheap motels in Muncie... We should start our search with them..." Sam says, looking at the map on his knees.

"Did you try to call her again?..." Dean asks, concentrated on the road.

"Seven times... Always falls on her voice mail... And yes, I left messages..."

"What is the matter with her lately?... It's like she's a total different person..."

"She won't admit it, but I think she has a hard time dealing with everything that happened to her since Lincoln... And she is also worried a lot about you…"

"We are all dealing with a lot of crap lately... But yeah, I know I'm a part of her worries… And honestly, I don't know what to do… Each time we talk, it finishes in a fight…"

"You're not the easiest one to handle either…" Sam softly laughs. "Oh!... Turn right at the next traffic-light... The first motel of our list is on the next block..."

Dean stops the car in front of the reception, letting the engine run just the time to let Sam check. He comes out a minute later, nodding a 'no'.

"Okay, next address…" The elder asks.

.

Eli let herself fall on the bed. "You still have that headache?" Ruby asks her.

"Yeah… And I feel like totally exhausted… Like all my energy is gone…"

"You will get used to it with practice… The headaches and the nose bleeding's will stop… Before you fall asleep, don't forget to salt the windows…"

"Why? The Demon is out, right?"

"You can never be too careful…"

Eli takes the salt bag from her stuff and meticulously pours lines across the windowpanes.

"Hum… I need to go out for a couple of hours… Have some sleep in the meantime… I'll pick you up later and drive you back home… Okay?" Ruby says, putting her jacket on.

"Okay…" Eli whispers, already laying back across the bed.

But, her nap is cut short by some heavy knocks on the door.

.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Eli slowly untangles from the bed, the knocks on the door going stronger. "Yeah, yeah… I'm coming… Why didn't you take a key?… Damned!" She moans, thinking that it is Ruby. She takes a look through the peephole, but sees no one on the other side. Instantly on the alert, she goes for a gun in her duffel and silently cocks it. She leans against the wall next to the door, laying in wait for any sound from the outside.

After a couple of minutes, since nothing else happened, she first thought that she had imagine it all. For all safety, she gives another look through the peephole and checks all the salt lines. She suddenly realizes that she forgot to put one in front of the entrance door. The moment she grabs the bag from the dresser, the doors flies open and two men jump on her back, making her drop the gun on the floor. They easily overcome her, one of the attackers puts a cloth over her mouth while the other ties up her ankles. She still tries to struggle, but slowly falls into unconsciousness. "Chloroform..." She whispers.

.

"Good afternoon, Sir… I was wondering if this person took a room in your motel…" Sam showing a picture of Eli to the guy behind the counter.

"Sorry, we don't give that kind of information… House policy on the right for people to have their privacy…" He replies, chewing loudly.

"I understand… Would it make you more comfortable if I show you this?" Sam pulls out a US Marshal's badge from his inside pocket.

"Am I not suppose to ask for a warrant or something?..." The suspicious receptionist questions.

"I could get one, in a hart beat... But, then I will be escorted by my whole brigade and they will search every single room of your nice premises… Maybe, we'll be lucky to find some other fugitives… Some drugs... Or maybe a hooker or two… Huh?" Sam approaching him, leaning on the counter.

"Hum…" The guy, scratching his unshaven face, finally gives in. "Can I see that picture again?... Yeah, I remember her... She arrived yesterday… Paid for 2 nights… Room 9… On the right… What did she do?"

"None of your business, Sir… Do you have a master key?" The man rummages in the drawer in front of him and hands it to Sam. "Thank you very much for your cooperation… We won't bother any of the other customers..." He salutes before joining Dean sitting on the hood of his car. "She's here… Room 9…"

.

They arrive in front of the room and discover the door already half-open. They both take their handgun, each standing at one side of the entrance. Dean gradually pushes the door open with the tip of his weapon, Sam aiming at the room. The youngest slowly enters and directly goes for the bathroom, the elder waiting outside. "Nobody's here…" Sam warns.

"But, her stuff is… Maybe she went out for a bite?…" Dean proposes, entering the room and trying not to think that worse could have happen.

Sam bends down and picks up a hanky. He sniffs it and quickly moves it away. "Chloroform…" He coughs.

"That's not a good sign…"

"And she would never have left behind her golden chain either… Look, the clasp is broken..." Sam lifting the necklace with a protective medallion on it, he found on the carpet.

"Damned!... I swear, soon we'll find her, I will... Let me alone with her for a minute or two… And, I'll…" Dean getting all worked up.

"Yeah... Well, hold your horses for now, Romeo… Let's think on what we can do to find out who took her, why and where?"

"Maybe I can help you with that…" Ruby voices, leaning on the frame, her arms crossed.

Dean makes some steps away from her, rolling his eyes.

"Where were you when she was abducted, huh?... One of the first hunters rules says: When you team with someone, you're suppose to watch out for each other..." Sam angrily asks.

"Oh, so… She told you about me… I knew she was lying!..."

"That's your excuse?" Dean suddenly intervenes, ready to go for her throat.

"Dean, let me handle this" Sam putting an arm in front of his brother to block him. "What were you both doing here? And do you know what might have happen to her?… You think a Demon is behind this?..." He questions Ruby.

"That's what I was trying to find out… And why I ask her to stay in the room and salt everything…"

"I told you she wasn't trustworthy… Any Demon is…" Dean mumbles to his brother.

"So, you knew some bastard was after her... But anyways, you brought her here... If I discover you have used her as bait, I'll swear I will tie you up on a chair and torture you for several days straight..." Sam going angry now too.

"Listen..."

"NO! You listen!... Why bringing her here and without telling us?... What are you hiding, Ruby?"

"We needed to…" She starts, but looks at Dean and hold her though. "Whatever… I know who has her… And there is no minute to waste…"

"Is it a Demon?"

"Yes… And a tough one… I knew too late that she was in town… Now, we have to hurry…" She already opens the door for them to follow her.

"What makes you sure Eli's not already dead?…" Sam flings, passing by her.

"She is not… You will have to believe me on that... Okay…"

"If we find her and she has... Let's say... Just a scratch… You're a goner… And soon Sam will be tired to play with you, I'll take second shift… You feel me?" Dean menaces her before going out.

.

Ruby leads the brothers to an old and abandoned industrial park. "It's better to leave the car here..." She shows Dean a spot on the back of one of the hangars. They silently run around it and stop at an angle.

The blond woman points at some windows in the building in front of them. Some deemed light coming out of the second floor dirty windows.

"Eli's in there?" Sam whispers.

"The Demon is, so I suppose she is too..."

"What makes you so sure of it?" Dean still suspicious.

"I still can feel Abrahel when she's around... She was my leader once... We were very close..."

"I never though you'd sleep at that side of the bed..." The elder grins.

"Abrahel?" Sam asks, before his brother continues with his dirty insinuations.

"Yeah... It's her name... And she's dangerous... She was a witch in her human life..."

"How many are with her?... I suppose she didn't come alone..."

"At least 2 others..."

"Three/three... We have a match... Let's go back and gear up properly before starting the party..." Dean already going back to the car.

.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"It won't be that easy... As I said, Abrahel is a very old Demon and she's really powerful..." Ruby pleads when they are back at the Impala to take everything they'll need for the attack.

"So now you are worried about what might happen to us?... Too late for an apology, Bitch!..." Dean says, not hiding his animosity towards her.

"Sam... Will you please listen to me... You cannot go in there just like that... She will get to you before you find the stairs..." The blond turning to the younger brother.

"You said that she would not harm Eli, right?... So, we can tackle her..."

"That's because she's expects you to do that... Once she has her hands on you, she will kill you both... That's her plan..."

"How much more do you know, Ruby?... Huh?... You're winning all the time that we do not trust you... But, how could we, since you're not telling us everything you know..." Sam using a reproachful tone.

"Because I just found out about it... I swear... Who she was and what she wants... It was a trap and I felt right into it... Sew me!... But, as soon as I knew, I directly came to get you, didn't I?... I knew you would come for Eli..."

The brothers are not listening anymore. They're already going back to the building.

.

Sam is going on one end of the building and Dean on the other, deciding to use the tactic of encirclement. Ruby, still hiding behind the first hanger, watches what the brothers are doing before going for her own plan.

Dean is the first to enter. He stays put for a minute, letting his eyes get used to the darkness and lying in wait for any sounds. The only thing he perceives is some water dropping from a pipe a little further down, echoing around.

Carefully, he sidles up to the stairs and climbs them one by one. His back is brushing against the iron banister, the Colt in his hand aiming above his head. Arriving at the three last ones, he stops and listens to the whispers coming from the room. Unfortunately, he is still too far away to understand what the voices are saying. He just manages to recognize two different ones, a male and a female. He lays across the stairs, his head peeking out at eyes level. At the back of the area, there is a table full of objects, a woman in front of it looking at them, like she was doing their inventory.

Two muscular men are posted at each side of Eli, tied up against a brick wall, her arms above her head and a gag in her mouth. From what he could see, she was not injured. But, she was strangely quiet, her eyes closed. "She must be still under the influence of the Chloroform." Dean says for himself.

His look is attracted by a slight movement on the other side, where another flight of stairs arrives in the room. Sam is in the same position as his brother. The elder, with some discreet gestures of his hand, makes him understand that he will go for the guy on Eli's left and asks Sam to overcome the guy on her right. The youngest nods 'yes' and Dean starts the countdown with his fingers. Three... Two... One...

.

Dean rushes from the stairs, running for the first Demon. He pulls the trigger of the Colt and shoots him down instantly. Abrahel turns around at the detonation and with a swing of her arm in the air, throws Dean a few meters away. Sam does not have the time to overcome the other bodyguard, since with her other hand, she is already pinning him against the opposite wall. Still walking towards Dean, she whispers some sorcery spell, staring in his eyes. All of a sudden, he rolls on the floor from painful cramps in his stomach, dropping the gun. He tries to stand up, but only could manage to get on his hand and knees, starting to cough and spitting blood. The seizure rising in intensity, he soon falls into oblivion. After shoving the Colt far away, she leaves him there and approaches Sam, a nasty smile over her face. "Finally, I got you both... It was easier then I though... And I knew you would come for her..."

"What do you want from us?" Sam asks with a husky voice.

"I want you dead of course... What a silly question!..."

"Why?... What did we do to you?"

"You're in my way... I really do not understand why Azazel sang so much the praises of you... From what I see here, you're as powerful as a couple of ants..."

"Don't be so sure of yourself... We've seen others..."

"Oh, you think because you get rid of Azazel... Your own master, by the way... How so disrespectful of you..." She sighs. "Whatever... I'm a much bigger fish than him, you know... I learned from his mistakes... He was too attached to you, that was his weakness... Like you have a weakness for your brother and her..." She points at Eli with a jerk on her head.

Sam struggles to get loose of the wall, but with a little flick of her fingers the pressure on his ribs rises, letting him out a scream of pain.

.

Taking the advantage that Abrahel is having her back towards the whole room, Ruby silently kneels near Dean. She grabs a dark flask from the inner pocket of her jacket and pours some black liquid into his mouth, obliging him to swallow despite the bad taste. She lays him down again; the potion would take another five minutes to be fully effective.

She silently runs behind a concrete pillar, taking the knife from her belt and picturing in her head the next move she will have to make to get rid of the second Demon and untying Eli before Abrahel would react.

In a loud scream, she jumps on the bodyguard, slitting his throat and continuing her movement to cut the ropes holding Eli's wrists. Still spinning around, she hands her a little bottle with a thick substance in it. "Drink this, quick... I'll try to hold Abrahel as long as I can..." Ruby says in a speed before continuing her way to defy the Demon.

.

"Oh... Ruby... Welcome... What a nice surprise..." Abrahel says, turning towards the last intruder. She moves a bit more her open hand, crushing Sam's chest a little bit more into the wall and making him yells again.

Holding the knife in front of her, the blade along her arm, Ruby makes small steps in a half-circle around the Demon. "Long time no see, huh?... Sorry but, I can't let you kill them..." She mumbles.

"Yes, it is a long time ago… Long enough to heal the pain you caused me, tho…" Abrahel pours.

"I had to leave… I couldn't bare it anymore…"

"Bare what?... I taught you everything I knew… You were one of my best!... I always treated you like no other in my court…"

"Your court?... Oh dear, you really thing you're it, huh?" Ruby mocks her.

"So, you made your choice... You took their side... Let me tell you something, Honey... You're gonna pay for your betrayal... They are only humans after all... Even with their... Ewww, I cannot say it out loud, how disgusting that is..." She makes a sour face.

"Let me say it for you... Yes, I believe in them and in their powers..."

"Hahaha... Do you really think those insects have any chance of survival in our world?... Really?..." Abrahel burst into laughter. "You know, I'm not the only one that has voted their dead sentence... And it was agreed that the one who could waste them, wins the crown... Guess who that one will be?..." She continues in a defying tone.

Suddenly, Ruby carries her attack. The push is so violent that both women fall heavily on the floor. Abrahel catches both of the blonds' wrists, preventing her stabbing. They roll over several times, none of her taking advantage over the other.

"You know I'm stronger than you... Why being so foolish?... Why giving your life for them?..." The Demon utters.

"I was just waiting for this..." Ruby suddenly lets her loose and stands up, looking at Eli.

.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Standing stiff as a ramrod, Eli faces Abrahel. The little bottle she drank earlier gives her a sudden sensation her blood is boiling in her veins. The anger of seeing Dean agonizing on the floor and Sam nearly passing over, trapped against a wall, give her the strength of ten. She lifts her fist in front of her, aiming at the Demon and while she is slowly turning it, Abrahel puts her hands over her chest, like her inside wanted to come out on the outside.

"See, how strong she is?... Don't forget to tell the others when you'll be back in the tormented flames of Hell!..." Ruby yells in delight.

Eli still holds her fist firmly closed, her head slightly bend on the side and her eyes screwed up. The Demon is forced to slowly open her mouth, starting to gag, the black now smoke pouring out of her in little waves. She lets out a huge inhuman scream when the nearly empty body falls on its knees. Eli slowly comes closer, towering over the Demon till the last inch of smoke has disappeared into the cracks on the floor. Ruby approaches, putting an arm around her shoulder. "It's over... Let's get out of here..." She gently whispers, turning around to look at Sam. Even if no force was holding him pinned anymore, he was still against the wall, so astonished he was from what he just witnessed.

"What just hap...?... How did she...?..." He stutters.

"That is why we came here... Eli can now also exorcise with her mind..." Ruby says in a smile.

"Oh God... She was right... I should have understood it when she told me..."

"Right on what?..."

"You activated her..."

"What are you talking about?"

Sam rushes to Eli, spinning her to face him. "Did she give you something to drink?" He asks her.

"Yes..." She blandly answers, her eyes still showing traces of rage.

"You promised me, Ruby!... You promised me that you wouldn't do it to her..." He yells.

"The circumstances didn't give me much choice... I just wanted to teach her the mind-exorcism... I..." She pleads.

"SHUT UP!... Now, I am sure you only brought her here because you knew exactly what would happen!..." They suddenly hear someone moaning. "We'll discuss this later... Dean?..." Sam looses Eli and goes near his brother. "Hey?... How to you feel?..." He helps him to stand up.

"I've a terrible taste in my mouth... It's like I ate something rotten... And my stomach burns like Hell... Man, what happened?" Dean asks his brother, looking around him.

"The first Demon was your doing... But that Abrahel bitch put a jinx on you and you just felt unconscious..." Sam starts to explain.

"I gave you an antidote... That's the bad taste you still feel... It'll pass as soon as you'll eat something..." Ruby adds.

He finally raises his gaze at Eli, still in the middle of the room, not saying a word and her gaze on the floor. "Are you okay?" He gently asks, discretely checking her for wounds. She just nods a timid 'yes', avoiding looking to Sam or Ruby. "So, you got the bastards... Nice job..." Dean turning to his brother.

"Yeah..." Sam staring at Ruby, ordering her stay silent over the method that was used.

On the little balcony overhanging the place, a little girl slowly walks away in the dark, the Colt in her hand.

.

Back at the motel, the brothers decide to take a room too for the night and drive back home in the morning.

Sam asks Dean if he could go for some food before settling down. "Good idea... I'm starving... Be back in a sec'..." He says in a smile, restarting the engine of his car.

The younger brother leads Eli to her quarters. When Ruby wants to enter, he stops her by putting his whole body in the frame of the door. "I think you already did enough damage for today... I want you to leave now." He harshly says.

"Sam... I had no choice..." He does not listen and slams the door in her face.

"I need a shower..." Eli says, going already for the bathroom.

"Later... First we need to talk..." Sam ordering her.

"Sam... Please can you hold your bust-up till tomorrow... I'm totally exhausted... And my head hurts."

"I know..." He flings, making her freeze the door handle in her hand. "Eli... It is important that Dean doesn't know anything about this... Okay?... If he knew, he would..."

"I had no intention to tell anybody anything we're doing lately... But, Ruby is right on one thing... We need to be prepared in case Dean cannot make it through his deal... We need to be trained with all possible means we have... The Colt and the knife are not enough, you know that... We have it in us anyways, so why not using it to kill the bad guys, huh?..." She pleads, coming back near Sam.

"Ruby lied to me... I made her promise that only me would be trained... Not you..."

"Why?... Why would you do it on your own, huh?..."

"I just want to protect you, Eli..."

"I don't need protection... And what is done is done, Sam... We are at war... And it seems it's only working with the both of us together..." She returns to the bathroom, slamming the door on her way in.

.

Dean comes back from the store holding some food boxes in a paper bag. He walks along the corridor of their Motel when the lights start flickering. He gently puts the bag on the floor and goes for the Colt in his inner pocket but it's not there. He tries to remember the last time he had it when he sees a shadow in the parking lot. Ruby stands next to his car, waiting for him.

"So the Devil may care after all… Is that what you are trying to make me believe?" Dean smirks.

"Life can be full of surprises…"

"So, let me get this straight… You were human once. You died. You went to Hell and became a…"

"Yeah…"

"How long ago?"

"Back when the plague was big…"

"So all of them, every damn Demon… They were all human once?" Dean a little bit astonished.

"Everyone I've ever met."

"Well, they sure don't act like it…"

"Most of them have forgotten what it means… Or even that they were humans… That's what happens when you go to Hell, Dean… That's what Hell is… Forgetting what you are… And it's not a metaphor… There's a real fire in the pit… Agonies you can't even imagine…" Ruby explains.

"Oh no, I saw 'Hellraiser'… I get the idea."

"Actually, they got that pretty close. Except for all the custom leather… The answer is 'yes' by the way…"

"Sorry?"

"Yes, the same thing will happen to you… Might take centuries, but sooner or later, Hell will burn away your humanity and will turn you into what ever one of us are…"

"There's no way of saving me from it, is there?"

Ruby sighs. "No… There isn't…"

"Why did you tell Eli and Sam that you could?"

"So they would talk to me… You, hunters, can be pretty narrow-minded sometimes… I needed something to help them get past the fact I'm a Demon…" Ruby suddenly vanishes, when she hears a room door opening.

.

Dean goes back to his room. "Hey... Did you have the Colt?" He asks Sam.

"No, though you had it..."

"I dropped it when I fell unconscious... But it was not there when I woke up... So, I though you might have used it..."

"It must have slide under something... We need to go back to the warehouse..."

They search everywhere for about an hour without success. "I'm sure it's one of Ruby's trick again... It has to..." Dean angrily comes, throwing an empty wooden box away.

"Why would she do something like that?"

"You still believe she's in our lives to help us, huh?..."

"I will summon her when we're back home..." Sam says, furious inside.

.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Dean is with Eli in a tavern, finishing their meal. As the waitress passes by their table, she orders a Whiskey.

"You drink Whiskey now?" Dean asks.

"I drink Whiskey all the time…" Eli smirks.

"At 2 in the afternoon?... Okay, what's wrong?..."

"Nothing…" She accepts the glass from the waitress.

"One for me too, please… Make it double and straight…"

Eli engulfs it in one shot. "And I'll take another one, please…"

"Eli, it's not like you… What's the matter?... Talk to me…" He places a hand over her's on the table.

"It's…" She sighs. "Damned!... It's bothering me for a while… But, you are so hard to talk too lately…"

"Well, I'm open for discussion now… So, tell me…"

"We've tried, Dean…" She whispers.

"To do what?"

"To save you…"

"Is it Sam pushing you to talk about it?... Please, we're already been through this a zillion times at least…"

"Dean, thinking where you're going… What you're gonna become… And that we can't do anything to stop it…" She pauses. "I'm starting to think maybe even Ruby can't stop it… But, the hardest part is that no one can save you…"

"That what I've been telling you both from the start…" He gently comes.

"No, I'm not meaning it in that sense… No one can save you because you don't wanna be saved… How can you care so little about yourself?… What's wrong with you?... I know I shouldn't give a damn anymore; you were clear on that… But, I can't do it… I just can't, Dean…" Eli trying to hold back her tears. Dean approaches his chair, feeling her distress and searching for the right words, when her cell phone starts to ring. "Hello?" She sniffs. "Yes, this is Mr. Sniderson's daughter… Excuse me?" She says with a little panic in her voice. "Where?... I'm on my way…" She claps the phone cover, grabs some bills out of her jeans pocket and throws them over the table. Dean is staring at her, waiting for an explanation. "It's Dad… They found him in a coma in a motel room…"

In a split of a second Dean drives like a mad man to the hospital, while Eli advises Sam over the phone.

.

"So what's your diagnosis?" Sam asks the doctor.

"We've tested everything we can think to test… He seems perfectly healthy…" He answers.

"Except that he is comatose…" Dean flings.

"And you are?"

"Her fiancé…" He puts both hands on Eli's shoulders, to support his statement. She's sitting next to the bed, holding her father's hand, a worried look on her face.

"Miss Sniderson… Anything we should know about your father's condition? Any resent illnesses? Some past problems?... Allergies, maybe?..." The Medic gently asks.

"No, he never gets sick… He doesn't even catch a cold…" She whispers.

"Doctor, is there anything you can do?" Sam following him in the hallway.

"Look, I'm really sorry… But, we don't know what's causing his condition… So, we don't know how to treat it… He just went to sleep and didn't wake up…" He says, disconcerted.

.

"Let's see what Bobby was doing in Pittsburgh" Sam entering the old man's Motel room.

"The only thing he told me, is that he was following some omens and he wanted to check it out… And that was three days ago…" Eli answers. "So, if he was working on a case, we might find his research somewhere hiding in…" She opens wide a double door. "Dad, you're so predictable…" She smiles when she finds pinned on the back of the closed, news clipping, drawings and hand written notes; mostly about mushrooms and other sorts of plants.

"Do you make heads or tails of any of this?" Sam asks, standing behind her.

"Silene Capensis… Which, of course, means absolutely nothing to me…" Dean tearing off one of the hanging papers.

"An obit… Doctor Walter Gregg, 64, university neurologist… Well, what have we here... Doc Wally just went to sleep and never woke up…" Eli showing it to the brothers.

"So, let's say Bobby was looking into the Doc's death… Hunting after something that started hunting him…" Sam says, already gathering all the papers from the back wall.

"Okay, it's a start… Sam, you stay here. See if you can make something out of Bobby's file… I'm gonna try to find a little bit more on that brain Doctor… And I'll drop Eli back at the hospital on my way… We'll meet there in an hour or two…" Dean orders.

.

Dean finds Eli asleep in an armchair at her father's bedside. He delicately brushes a hand over her shoulder to gently wake her up. "Sam's not here yet?..." He whispers

"No… Did you find interesting stuff on the Doctor?"

"Well, he was doing researches on the 'Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome'…" He starts, sliding a chair next to her.

"Dreamless sleepers…" She adds.

"Yep… He had several patients, which he was treating with some kind of mixture of his making… I couldn't find much more about it in his files... But I had a chat with one of his guinea-pigs and willing to talk about the experiments. He suffers of that syndrome since he was a kid. Dr Gregg gave him a sort of yellow colored tea to drink, making him passed right out. And that night, he had the most vivid, super-intense dream, he explained… But then, he totally freaked out and left the study right after that first experience... He wasn't really inclined to tell me more about it and preferred to forget he even tried... If you asked me, he seemed to be happy the Doc was out… So chocked he was just by remembering it... Weird dude..." Dean explains.

"You think we are dealing with a sort of Professor Mengele?..."

"Who?"

"He was a mad scientist during WWII… He made weird and inhuman experiments on prisoners from a death camp he was responsible for…"

"Oh… Waouw… Awful… What are we complaining about Demons when we have our own walking and talking monsters around?..." Dean whistles.

"Yeah… But about my Dad…" She returns to the initial conversation. "They found no suspicious substance in his blood test… Or any signs of struggle... Anything in his Motel room either... Didn't you find any samples of that yellow thing at the Doc's lab?" Eli asks.

"I talk with his assistant and she didn't tell me much more on his research… She just handed me some files and that was it… The lab was already cleaned…"

"I suppose his treatment was off the records… Maybe not even proof tested before giving it to his patients…" She sighs.

"How are you holding up?" He softly wraps an arm around her.

"Just… Seeing him laying there, not knowing what he has… I feel useless… And bad, because last time we spoke, we were arguing... " She starts to sniff.

"Hey… Bobby is the strongest man I know… I'm sure he's fighting hard to get out of this…" Dean moving closer to her. She allows herself to rest her head in the hollow of his shoulder. "Don't worry… We're gonna find what happened to him… And we're gonna fix it… You know, our way…" He gently kisses her forehead.

Sam, standing in the doorway, is watching them in each other's arms. He feels a pinprick of jealousy, before pulling himself back together. He clears his throat and enters the room, making Eli and Dean quickly split their embrace.

"How is he?" Sam asks.

"Still no change…" Eli answers, with some embarrassment in her voice.

.


	31. Chapter 31

**I would like to apologize for not updating as faster as I wish... I am very busy at the moment and lack of time is my major problem. Hope that this is just a short period faze.**

**Take care.**

Chapter 31

Since there is nothing else they can do for Bobby at the moment, they decided to leave the hospital and talk about their findings at the motel.

"Anything interesting in those documents Bobby gathered?" Dean asks his brother.

"Considering what you told me about the Doc's experiments… It could so what explains Bobby's condition…" Sam answers. Eli, approaching him, takes a closer look on the file. "This plant, 'Silene Capensis', is also known as the 'African Dream Root'… It's been used by Shamans and Medicine Men for centuries… If you believe the legends, it's used for dream walking… Entering in other person's dreams… Joking around in their heads… Making them do stuff... Or believing in made-up events... You name it..."

"Why would my Dad enter someone else's dreams?... That has nothing to do with possessions or Demons…"

"True… But, we might have a killer on the loose that is using serious mojo to get rid of people…" Sam giving them a theory he made up.

"A killer?... I though the Doc died in his sleep…" Dean comes.

"Hum… I'm not so sure anymore that it's a natural cause of death… There are too many coincidences… That plant, his experiments, now Bobby… Maybe, that is what the old man was after… And why we found him like this…" Sam continues to explain.

"Okay… But, if the killer came after him, like you suppose in your theory... How come he's still alive?" Dean questions.

"I don't know..." The youngest shrugs.

"Guys... And if that killer was in fact the dream in itself?..." Eli wonders.

"That would be a whole new level of weird…"

"Not that weird for a though… Who knows how that mixture works on your brain? We all have dark secrets hidden in here…" Sam slightly knocking on his scull, supporting her idea.

"We are just working on assumptions here… We need more solid proof… For me, right now, the most important is how we put my Dad out of his coma..." Eli suddenly stops talking.

"Eli?... Are you still with us?... What are you plotting there on your own?" Sam gently asks.

"And if we could go in there an ask my Dad?..." She whispers.

"How so?" Sam

"Well, if he took that root, he must still be tripping, right?... And wondering around somewhere in his dreams... I suppose if we do the same, we could find him... And..."

"Hold on... Hold on... We ain't taking any drugs were we know nothing about the side effects... And were we might never wake up from... Like Bobby for instance..." Dean trying to calm Eli's sudden excitement.

"That's why I've decided to go alone... And you'll watch over me... I could take just a small dose first, to test what it does... I'll prepare a shoot of Epinephrine in case I wouldn't wake up after 10 minutes..."

"And then they say, I'm the kamikaze!... No frigging way, Eli!..." Dean going angry.

"With that huge advantage that I already know how to mind-travel... Remember?..." Eli not listening to the elder's protests.

"Eli, this is really dangerous... And you don't know if you still have that ability... We really know nothing about the side effects of this root..." Sam trying to reason with her.

"Let's deepening our research, then... We might find some Writings from past experiences... You talk about Shamans… Let's find one…"

"Eli… I really don't think this is a good plan..."

"If you have a better one, I'm all ears..." Eli crossing her arms over her chest. Sam just sighs. "That's what I though... So, with or without you, I'm doing it..." She grabs her jacket, ready to leave the room.

Sam runs after her. "Okay... Wait… Let's say we're following your suicidal plan... One thing, where are you gonna find some African Dream root?..."

"I have my connections..." Eli smirks, continuing her way out.

Sam grabs her by the arm again. "Who?"

She looks behind him to ensure Dean is not listening. "I'll ask Ruby..." She whispers.

"You still have contacts with her?... Because, she didn't answer my calls... Not since the Colt disappeared..."

"She didn't steel the Colt and you know that... Will you please let me go now?... My father doesn't have all the time in the world here..."

.

It is now four hours that Eli left the motel room. "Didn't she tell you where she had that meeting with that thing?" Dean nibbling on his nails.

"No..."

"I'm still not trusting that bitch, you know..."

"Which one?" Sam jokes.

"Don't start… That was not funny…"

At that moment, the key goes in the lock and Eli enters. "You got it!..." Sam impatiently asks. A huge smile on her face, she shows them a glass jar with some yellowish branches in it.

.

A little later, Sam prepares two cups of Dream Root tea. "Just so you know... We decided that you're not going alone... One of us is coming with you... Take it or leave it..."

"May I choose who?"

"No..."

Eli sighs. "Okay..." She is sitting on one bed and Dean on the other, each with a cup of yellow tea in their hands.

"Okay, here we are... Bottom's up!" Dean clinking his mug with hers.

Both are engulfing the mixture, making a disgusted face.

"Do you feel anything?" She asks after a minute.

"Not really..." He looks around. "Wait…Where is Sam?"

Eli goes off the bed. "Hey… There was no window here before, right?..." When she turns to face the room again, it is not their motel, all the furniture has changed. "Oh my God!..." She whispers.

"What?"

"This is… Home... I mean, what it looked like when I was a child..." She wonders around, looking at the pictures on a shelf. "I remember that one..." She smiles at the memory.

"Bobby?" Dean calls. "I'm gonna have a look around..."

"Maybe it'll be better we stay together..."

"We need to find Bobby... And only have 10 minutes, remember... Don't worry, it's gonna be fine... You see anything, just scream..."

.

Eli goes for the kitchen, touching some ornaments hanging here and there. Every piece is on its right place, the place is spotless. She suddenly hears a moan coming from behind the closed door. "Dad?" She questions.

"Who's out there?" Bobby shyly answers.

She sees scratches all over the door, like made by claws. "Dad... Open the door..."

"Eli?... Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me..."

He slowly opens it, he seems completely terrified. "What the Hell are you doing in this house?" He asks, panting.

"Dad, it's our house... We find what you were after... And about that African Dream Root..."

"Dream Root?... What?" Bobby seems surprised.

"Doctor Gregg and his experiments... Remember?"

"What is all that nonsense?" The lights suddenly starts flickering. "Hurry!... She's coming back..." He goes in the closed again.

"Dad... Wait... What's going on?... You know this is a dream, don't you?"

"What?... Are you crazy?"

"It's your dream... None of this is real..."

"Does that look made up to you?" He points at something behind her. She slowly turns around.

In front of them stands a woman dressed in a white nightgown stained with blood.

"Mom?..." Eli mouths, dumbfounded.

.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"Why Bobby?... Why did you do this to me?" His wife complains, her arms wide open to show her chest spattered with blood.

"Mom... It's me... Elizabeth... Your daughter..." She tries to draw her mother's attention.

"Tell her what you did to me, Bobby..." The woman continues, not paying attention to her daughter.

"Dad?... What is she talking about?..." Eli asks with some panic in her voice, remembering what the Yellow-Eyes Demon told her in Wyoming.

"Why did you do this to me?" Karen repeats.

"I would rather die myself than hurting you again..." The old man obviously seeking for forgiveness.

"But you did hurt me... You shoved that knife in me... Again and again... You watched me bleed... You watched me die..." Her voice rises.

"So, Azazel was right about what happened to her?..." Eli whispers, rage slowly growing up in her.

"How could you?..." His wife continues, approaching him.

"You were possessed, Baby... I thought you were suffering from delirium... Because I didn't know what I know now and the right thing to do to save you..." Bobby backing up to the closed again.

"You're lying... You wanted me dead... You were so jealous because I finally found happiness... And is was not with you!"

"I'm sorry..." He starts to cry.

"You really killed her!... That filthy Demon told me the truth!... And you lied to me, all these years?..." Eli starts to yell too now, shaking him like a vulgar rag-doll.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." He repeats, with sobs in his voice.

.

Bobby huddles up in a corner of the room, both women facing him. From fear, he starts to scream as loud as he can. Dean rushes in the place, pushing Karen aside and grabbing Eli and the old man each by an arm. He leads them in the next room, closing the double-doors. He blocks them with an iron bar he found next the fireplace just before the woman starts furiously punching on it.

Dean approaches a completely confused Bobby, his body still shaking from the scene. "Bobby!... Look at me... All of this... Your house... Your wife... Your fears... It's all part of a nightmare..."

"I killed her... I'm so sorry, Pumpkin..." The old man opening his arms towards Eli.

"You!... Don't touch me!... Ever... You're not my dad anymore!... I hate you!..." She warns him, moving away.

"ELI!... BOBBY!... Nothing of this is real... This is a dream... Eli, remember?... It's your Dad's dream... We need to make him realize that... Bobby, you can wake up... You can do anything..." Dean going left to right to talk to both at the same time.

"Just leave me alone now... I've lost it all... Let her kill me already..." The old man going for the door.

Dean grabs his arms, turning him around. "Look at me!... You gotta snap out of this, right now!... You're not gonna die... I'm not letting anybody die here... Eli, help me on this!" He calls her. "ELI! FOR CHRIST SAKES!... COME HERE, RIGHT NOW!" He yells at her, nearly out of control as she didn't move on his first request.

She timidly approaches. "You'll settle down your differences in real life... This is nor the place, nor the time, nor the right dimension... You feel me?... Now, you talk to your father!... And that's an order!" He checks on the door. "It won't hold much longer… So, hurry up!"

"Dad... You need to believe us... We came in your head... This is all just a... Nightmare..." She manages to say, controlling her anger the best she can.

"I'm dreaming?..." Bobby, in tears, staring at his daughter.

"Yes... Now take control of it... That woman behind this door is not your wife..." Dean continues.

The old man closes his eyes and instantly the screams and the banging against the door stop. "What?... What happened?... I don't believe it..." He whispers.

"Believe it, man... Now, would you please wake up..." Dean petting his shoulder.

.

At the hospital, Bobby suddenly sits up in his bed. And at the same time, in the motel room, Dean jumps awake too.

"So?... How was it?" Sam asking his brother.

"Weird... Wait... Eli..." Dean rises from the bed and starts to shake her. "Eli?... You wake up now... Eli... Damned!..."

"The Epinephrine..." Sam goes for the syringe on the table.

"You're sure about this?" Dean asks a worried look on his face.

"Not really..."

"Then, we don't do it... We're bringing her to the hospital..."

.

The doctor looks puzzled at Eli laying in a hospital bed, not far away from her father's room. He asks some questions to the brothers about the circumstances. They stay as vague as possible, preferring telling the medic that they just found her like that in her bed this morning.

.

Sam and Dean leaving Eli, are going for Bobby's room. They explain in details everything that happened to the old man and all their discoveries on this strange case. They are now trying to find the next thing to do.

"Maybe she wanted to stay to talk to her mom?... I would have done it in the same circumstances…" Sam says.

"Nah… It was Bobby's dream, not hers... And his wife vanished as soon as he realised it was all a dream…" Dean looking at Bobby.

"It's all my fault... I should have told her the truth a long time ago... How will she ever trust me again?... Thinking a Demon gave her the real story?..." Bobby shaking his head in despair.

"Come on, man... Don't do this to yourself... We'll go back and get her... And you'll explain her everything when she's back… I'm sure she'll understand your reasons..." Dean trying to comfort him.

"When you say 'we'll go back'... You mean, we're going back in that dream?..." Sam needing to be sure he understood his brother's new plan.

"You have another solution, Smart-ass?"

"Boys... Let me go back and reason with her..."

"No way, Jose... You will be the one watching and bringing us back... Besides, I don't think she will listen to you right now... It's better Sam and I drink that woodoohoodoo mixture..."

.

After Bobby signed the discharge papers to get out off the hospital, they go back to the Motel.

Sam quickly prepares another tea for two.

"Are you really sure what you are doing?... Will this really work?..." The old man worries.

"We don't have any other choice... And if Eli could take your dream to continue hers... It means that anyone can take someone else's dream and mess with it... We know her, we'll find her and bring her back..." Sam trying to reassure Bobby.

"Boys... You be careful, okay..."

They both nod and engulf the mixture in one shot.

.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The brothers are waking up in the Impala, parked in the middle of a glade. "What are we doing here?... Where's the house?..." Dean asks.

"Chhhhh... Did you hear that?" Sam putting a hand on his brother's mouth. "Footsteps... There's someone out there..."

They leave the car and carefully walking around. Sam spots a shadow behind a tree and starts to run after it, going deeper into the woods. Dean a few meters behind quickly loses sight of his brother. "Hey… Don't go so fast… We need to stay close… Sam?... Where are you?..." He calls, looking all around him. He hears branches cracking, birds taking off, even an owl hooting in a distance, but no sounds of someone chasing someone else. Sam has vanished in thin air.

Dean looks down, sighing. When he lifts his gaze again, he discovers that his surrounding has completely changed.

In front of him a long corridor, trees all over the wallpaper. There are doors on each side and one at the far end of the hallway. He doesn't know exactly why, but chooses to go see what is behind that one. He reaches out for the handle, but the door opens by itself. He immediately recognises their motel room. A man is sitting in front of the desk, his back to him. Dean carefully approaches, the man slowly turning around at the same time. He suddenly freezes, facing his doppelganger.

"Hey, Dean…" The twin says with a nasty smile. "We need to talk…"

"Okay, I get it… I'm my own worst nightmare… That's it, huh?... Playing a little mano y mano with myself?..."

"Joke all you want, Smart-ass… But, you can't lie to me… I know the truth… I know how dead you are inside… How worthless you feel… I know how you look into a mirror… And hate what you see…"

"Sorry, Pal… It's not gonna work… You're not real… I know..." Dean turns on his heels, ready to walk away.

"Sure I am real… Since I'm you…"

"I don't think so… See, this is my siesta, not yours…" He says, pointing a finger in the doppelganger's face. "All I gotta do is snap my fingers and you go bye-bye…" He does the gesture several times but his other self doesn't disappear.

"I'm not going anywhere… And neither are you…" The entrance door slams and locks by itself. "Like I said… We need to talk…" He shows a sawed-off shotgun that was gently laying on his lap, making Dean back up a few steps.

.

Sam wakes up in the Impala… He wants to wake up Dean, but receives a whack of a baseball bat in his ribs. He opens the car door and let himself fall on the ground. He looks up, a young man staring at him.

"Remember me, Winchester?" He says with a wicked tone.

"Should I?... Who are you?" Sam still wincing from the blow.

"You don't know?... Go back a few years… In Fairfax…" The other approaching his face.

"Dirk McGregor?..."

"Bingo!... But, you can call me 'Dirk the Jerk' if you prefer… It will make it easier for me to kill you…" He chuckles.

"Kill me?... Come on, Dirk… We were kids… And you started it by being a bully…"

"You didn't know anything what my life was like!... You didn't care!... All you wanted was entering the school popular squad!…" The young man starting to yell.

"What?... No, you were after my friend… You were harassing him because you knew he wouldn't fight back!..."

"Bullshit!... You just provoked me and mock me in front of all the others…"

"Wait a second… This is not real… You are not real… It's my dream…" Sam wants to stand up, but he realises he is pinned on the ground, his arms and legs wide open, attached to stakes buried deep.

"Not real, huh?..." Dirk rising the baseball bat over his head, ready to beat the crap out of Sam. "You can't stop me… There's nothing I can't do to you in here…" And the first blow hits a leg.

"It's my dream… I can control it… I need to control my fears…" Sam whispers, closing his eyes to concentrate.

.

"You are going to Hell and you won't lift a finger to stop it?... Talk about low self-esteem… Then again, it's not much of a life worth saving, right?…" Dean's doppelganger continuing his speech.

"Wake up, Man… Come on, wake up…" Dean mumbles for himself.

"After all, you've got nothing out there… Outside of Sam… You are nothing… You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog…"

"That's not true… I have a whole family…"

"Really?... What family, huh?... What are the things that you want, Dean?... What are your dreams?... I mean, your car, that's Dad's… Your favourite leather jacket, Dad's… Your music, Dad's… Do you ever have an original though?... No, all there is, is 'watch out for Sammy'… 'Look after your little brother, Boy!' You can still hear your Dad's voice in your head, can't you?... Clear as a bell…"

"Just shut up!"

"When you think about it… All he ever did was train you, boss you around… But Sam… Sam, he loved… And even Eli he chose over you..."

"I mean it, I'm getting angry…"

"Dad knew who you really were… A good soldier and nothing else… Daddy's blunt little instrument… Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died… Why should you?" The twin's raising his voice at each sentence.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean grabbing him by the collar and pushing him against the desk. "My father was an obsessed bastard!" He yells. "All that carp he dumped on me, about protecting Sam… That was his crap!" He starts to punch his other self. "He's the one who couldn't protect his family… He's the one who let Mom die… Who wasn't there for Sam… I always was… He wasn't fair! I didn't deserve what he put on me… And I don't deserve to go to Hell!..." He makes two steps back, grabbing the gun from his twin hands and shoots at him twice.

.

Sam walks in his old high school hallway, some books under his arm. Next to him walk his friend, Barry. "You know, for that essay, Mr Wyatt asks us to do… We could read each other's story… And…"

"Barry?..." A dumbfounded Sam asks.

"What?..."

"You… You didn't change… You're still like you were back then…"

"Sam, are you on drugs or something?... You're talking nonsense…" In front of them arrive 3 young kids. "Oh, oh… Dirk McGregor on approach…" Barry whispers, ready to walk the other way around.

"Wait… Let's talk to him…" Sam stops his friend, grabbing his arm. "Good morning, Dirk…" He holds out his hand.

"Sam Winchester… And my good buddy Barry Cook…" The chubby kid smirks, taking Barry's head under his arm and rubbing a fist on his forehead.

"Leave him alone…" Sam trying to separate them.

"Or what, moron?..." Dirk letting Barry lose to face Sam.

"Come on… Let's talk this out…"

He burst into laughter and turns around to his friends. "That coward wants to talk… Did you hear that guys?..." When he comes back in front of Sam and without any other notice, he sends him a hook in his jaw, making him stumble on the floor. Dirk sits on Sam's chest and starts to swing pushes in his face. Sam tries to retaliate, but his arms are pinned on his body, paralysed.

"I need to get out of this... I need to concentrate... Eli…" He whispers, closing his eyes again to focus.

.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Dean, slowly going out of his anger, approaches his unconscious twin. When he is close enough, his double opens his eyes. There have turned into total black. "You can't escape me, Dean… You're gonna die… And this… This is what you're gonna become…" He groans.

With tears in his eyes, Dean starts to punch him again. "I'm not like that... I'll fight till the end... But I'll never become that..." He repeats at each blow.

"I'm sure you'll give in quickly... You're not strong enough... Not like your brother... He knows already... He gave himself to it..."

"No!... Shut up!... He did not..." He cries, slowly losing his strengths to continue.

"Oh come on... Open your eyes... Deep down, you know what your brother is playing with... And I'm sure you already know for Eli too... And she is way further down the road already... Just waiting you're gone to team up with your precious little brother... You imagine, your brother and Eli..." He burst into laughter.

"Eli... The dream..." Dean suddenly realises. "Sorry, Pal... Need to be somewhere..." He gives him a last knock and starts to concentrate.

.

Sam arrives in a beautiful garden. The sky is so blue and the sun so warm that he is tempted to sit down in the grass and just laze around for a moment. A nice breeze delicately dries the sheets hanging on a clothe line. He raises his gaze, the house in front of him. It looks like Bobby's, but freshly painted in a nice shade of blue and with no wreckage yard around. He slowly goes up the stairs of the porch and knocks at the door.

A woman opens. "Hello... What can I do for you?" She gently says.

"Ahum… Hello... I was... looking for..." Sam shyly voices.

"Eli?... So, you must be Dean..." The woman smiles. "I'm Eli's mother, Karen... Please, come in..."

"I'm Sam... Dean's brother..." He wipes his feet on the doormat.

"Oh... Something happened?" She worries.

"No, no... Dean is fine... I just need to talk to Eli for a second..."

At that moment, Eli shows up in the main room. "Sam?... What are you doing here?"

"Do you want some coffee? I made some fresh one just an hour ago..." The mother nicely asks, already going for the kitchen.

"No thank you, Madam... I'm fine..."

Passing by her daughter, she makes a short stop. "I'm wondering what the other looks like since this one is already... Waouw!" She whispers with a smile.

"Mom, please..." Eli rolling her eyes. "How did you find me?" She flings at Sam as soon as Karen disappeared.

"You have to come back... You remember that this is only a dream, right?"

"Yes, I know... And I decided to stay..."

"Eli, you can't... This is not real... Your mom's dead..."

"Shut up!... How can you ask me to come back to this life we have?... What is there for me, huh?... Only despair and grief and piles of weird... I can't live like this any longer... Leave me alone..."

"I can't... I'm sorry... And you know that..."

She suddenly closes her eyes and Sam wakes up in the Motel room.

"Are you all right, Son?..." Bobby asks him.

"Damned!... I should have seen it coming... She zapped me from her dream..." Sam says.

"What happened?..."

"She wants to stay in that dream she made up..." He turns around to his still asleep brother. "Hopefully Dean would have better luck that me... He is our last chance to bring Eli back..."

.

Dean opens his eyes. He is in his Impala, parked on the side of a road. He looks around; it seems to be the middle of the night. In a distance he recognises Bobby's house. There are some light at the second floor, Eli's bedroom. He decides to walk to the house to avoid making too much noise with his car.

He slowly makes the round of it. He sees a brand new pickup truck and a red car parked in what seemed to be an old cowshed. There is a kitchen garden, some hens in a pen and two apple-trees. It is definitively Bobby's home, but totally different at the same time. Dean is a little bit confused, feeling like encroaching upon her most private thoughts. He goes back to the side where Eli's bedroom is and throws little stones on the window. She quickly opens it. "Finally, I thought you would never show up!..." She whispers. "Wait at the back door, I coming down..."

He waits for a minute, when the door opens. Eli jumps in his arms, kissing him. "Waouw... Not so fast..." He gently puts her back on the floor.

"What's wrong?..."

"What's wrong?... You were supposed to wake up with me when we found Bobby..."

"Hush!... Not so loud, Mom and Dad could wake up... What are you talking about?... Where is your car?..." She silently closes the door, grabs Dean's hand and walk away from the house.

He turns her around, taking her by the arms. "Eli, this is a dream... I came to bring you back... So, now focus and let's get out of here..."

"I don't understand what you are saying... What's in to you tonight?... I thought you were happy that I finally gave in to you and decided to do it..." She gently caresses his cheek, rubbing her body against his.

"What?... No... Eli... We are... Damned!... You are in a dream... You drank some potion... And we need to go back... We cannot stay here... Or we die..."

She suddenly hardens her gaze and steps away from him. "I know... But, I'm not going back... Sam already tried…"

"And what did you do to him?..."

"I just closed my eyes… And wham, he was gone…" She makes a circle with her arm.

"Okay… Wait a second…" He gently says, afraid that she might zap him away too. "Eli…" He sighs. "I know that we are not living the perfect life… But, it's ours… And it's real… You made that choice to continue what your father started, right?…"

"He lied to me, Dean… All these years, he lied to me… How can I go through life now that I know my own father killed my mother?…"

"You don't have all the details… Give your father a chance to explain why he did such a cruel thing… Don't stand on just what a Demon told you…" He comes closer to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Dean... Imagine, you could stay here too, huh?... We could both stay in this dream forever... You could get out of that deal... You wouldn't go to Hell..."

"This is not real, Eli... And Sam and Bobby are waiting for us..."

"We don't need them... Please... Stay with me..." She pleads.

"We can't, I'm sorry... It's tempting, for sure... Really, if there were not my brother and your father... I would do it with you, Eli... Believe me... But at a moment, we'll die... And I'm sure I'll be dragged to Hell anyway... And maybe you too..."

"You might be right... I didn't realise that part..." She looks at the house, tears in her eyes. "At least, I lived that life for a little moment… And it was nice…"

"It's always nice in the beginning… But, believe me, beware what you wish for… There's always payback time at the end..."

"You seemed to know what you're talking about…"

"I met a Djinn once… I'll tell you that experience when we'll wake up…" Dean gently smiles.

Eli surrounds his face with both her hands and kisses him. "What was that for?..." He asks.

"A little present I allow myself before we're back in real life…" She laughs before they both close their eyes.

.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Dean wakes up, taking a huge gulp for air.

"You're okay, bro?..." Sam asks, sitting next to him.

"Yeah…"

"That was a long trip… What happened?..."

"Later…Where's Bobby?"

"At the hospital with Eli…" At that moment, his phone rings. "Must be him… Hello?... Yeah, he's back… Oh, good… We're on our way…" He cuts the call. "Eli is awake too… I don't know how you did it, but you got to her…"

"I'm kinda irresistible!..." Dean jokes.

.

The next day, Eli may leave the hospital despite the confusion the doctor still has over her case.

They go back to the Motel to recuperate their duffels. "Guys, can you please give Eli and I a moment... I think it's time I have a conversation with her about all this..." Bobby gently asks the brothers.

"Oh Yeah... Sure... We'll wait for you at the Dinner at the corner..." Sam answers.

"Thank you…" The old man mouths. "Pumpkin... We need to talk about your mother..." He continues before closing the door.

"You're sure it's safe we leave them alone in there?" Dean a little bit worried.

"Come on… It's father and daughter we're talking about here… What, you wanna stay with your ear glued to the door, in case of?"

"No… You're right… Maybe not…" The elder smiling at a person passing by in the hallway, looking dagger at them.

.

"I promise Dean I'd listen to your version of the story… So, go ahead…" Eli sitting on the edge of the bed, arms crossed and looking away from her father.

"This boy really got to you, didn't he?..." Bobby smirks, grabbing a seat to sit in front of her.

"Absolutely not!… But, his argumentation had some sense in it… So…" She unconvincingly answers.

"His argumentation… Right… Okay, Eli… Here it goes…" He intertwines his fingers and places his hands in front of his mouth, in a sort of concentration position, before starting to talk. "When you were born, your Mom couldn't stay a foot away from you… She was carrying you around everywhere… Singing for you all day long… You were both so adorable together…" He gently smiles at the memory. "And then suddenly, something changed in her… She became irascible… She disappeared for hours, leaving you in your buggy in the middle of the garden, unattended… She stopped taking care of you… Of her too… Even the house was a mess… So, I brought her to the doctor… He said she might suffer from Baby Blues and he gave her some antidepressant pills… That she didn't take of course… And it got even worse… She started to be violent…With me, with you… The Sheriff came home once, because she was accused of burglary by one of the store-man in town… It was totally not Karen anymore… To avoid jail time, I promised the judge to take her to a shrink… Schizophrenia, he said… And she was immediately committed in a mental institution… But, she escaped five days later and came home after a week and a half like nothing happened… Then, the night of your ten months, some strange noises coming from your bedroom woke me up… I heard your Mom's and another man's talking a language I couldn't understand… When I opened the door…" He stops and sighs heavily. "There was a guy towering above your crib, one of his fingers in your mouth… He turned to face me and there I saw his Yellow-eyes… I thought first it was because of the reflection of the night light… But, he pushed me away and slammed the door just with a gesture of his hand… I tried to open it again… I pushed, hammered, yelled… It was locked…"

"With Sam, a fire started right after that... And his Mom died in it… Why was it different for us?..." Eli questions.

Her father lifts a hand to ask her to wait the rest of the story. "Suddenly, the door opened by itself again and your mom was holding you in her arms… The man had vanished… She was smiling at me… Telling me that everything would be all right now… I was totally confused and scared… I didn't understand what was happening to our family… In the morning, I took you to the doctor… I needed to know if that man did something to you… But, he didn't find anything strange… You were a perfectly healthy ten months old baby… No traces of bruises or marks… You even smiled at the doctor, wanting to grab his stethoscope to play with…" Bobby giggles. "But, nothing that would answer my distress… I was totally confused… So before riding back home, I made a detour to our church to talk to father Peter… I explained him everything that happened… And he was the first one to talk about Demon's possession and Hunters trying to get rid of the once wandering around on earth… He advised me to contact a friend of his, a specialist in that kind of matter… I thought it would be a 'he' but it was a 'she' that knocked on our door the next morning… Pamela Barnes, a very powerful psychic by the way… She wanted to make a hypnosis session with Karen to make sure it was a possession case… During the process, your mother had suddenly a short moment of lucidity where she explained she felt like somebody else was in her, another woman making her doing things…That she was trying to fight it, but failed… That the man I saw with the Yellow-eyes was a Demon… And that entity in her was his formal wife… And that she was scared for us… You and me… But then suddenly the tone of her voice changed and that Demon woman started to speak… She was about to run away with you to rejoin her husband… Pamela wanted me to tie up your mother on the chair while she took a book from her pocket and told me she needed chalk to draw some cabalistic signs on the floor… But we weren't fast enough; the Demon in your mom took a letter-opener on the desk and stabbed herself with it… She explained that since the body was now damaged, Karen would die soon after the exorcism… I asked Pamela to stop the session and wake Karen up from the hypnosis… I couldn't believe what I was hearing… I needed time to process all what was happened in our lives since the past six weeks… Despite her protests, I send Pamela away and try to discuss with your mother… Again, she promised me that everything would go fine and that I had nothing to worry about…" He stops talking, a sudden sob choking him.

Eli goes for her father's duffel and takes the little Whisky flask out of it. She opens it, drinks a sip and hands it to him. "Thanks, Pumpkin…"

Before going back on the bed, she gently squeezes her father's shoulder, finally showing him some support and understanding.

Bobby clears his throat and continues to narrate that painful moment in their lives. "Two days later, I called back Pamela… I really needed answers to the zillions questions that were turning in my head… I needed to know what could be done… I wanted to save your mother… Pamela came home, accompanied with a man… A hunter… He explained me the basis of what that special job meant… What exactly was a Demon… And how to handle one, at least the low-graded ones… I was a lousy believer and only red Bible when I was a kid… So, imagine suddenly facing the facts that Heaven and Hell, Demons and others evil creatures really exist…" He takes another sip of Whiskey. "The next day, in the middle of the night, I caught your mother trying to sneak out the house with you in her arms… I tried to stop her and to take you away from her… We started to fight… It quickly turned ugly… I succeeded to push her back in our bedroom spreading Holy Water to her and locked the door with a salt line… She hammered on that damned door for hours… I just went up there to give her food and drink, still with that bottle of Holy Water as a weapon… I noticed that the stab wound in her belly got septic… At that moment, I knew I wouldn't be able to save her anymore… I drank till I found the courage to go up there, with the exorcism text in one hand, a bottle of Holy Water in the other and a long knife in my belt… I traced a Devil's trap in front of the bedroom door, put a mat over it and made a breach in the salt line before opening it… I backed up in the corridor, waiting for her to come out… Of course she was stopped by the trap and I started to read the Latin text out loud… She was screaming like an animal… It was awful… Really awful… The Demon finally came out of her in a form of a black smoke we all know by now… And it disappeared through the open window… Your mom felt on the floor, still breathing… I took her in my arm and she…" Bobby sobs again. Eli kneels before him, taking his hands in hers. "She begged me to stop her suffering… I took the knife… And stabbed in her heart… I cremated her in all due respect…" He places his hands around Eli's face. "The guilt weight on me since… She was the love of my life, Pumpkin… And you are all what I have left now… So, that makes you the most precious thing I own… That's why I tried to protect you since you're a kid… Letting you be a hunter… Asking John to train you… And let Dean and Sam taking over… I wanted to be sure you would survive the day I wouldn't be around anymore…"

"You knew for the Demon blood in me?..." Eli asks.

"Yes, I only completely understood it later when John told me about Sam… That's the reason I wanted you all to stay together… And I hope you will stay close, Sam and you, when Dean will… You know…"

"Dad, I'm so sorry… I was so angry with you… Why were you hiding all of this from me?... I would have understood, you know…"

"I know, Pumpkin… That was a terrible mistake I made…"

Father and daughter, both go up and hug each other tight.

.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Sam is sitting in front of a giant microfilm reader screen in the Sioux Falls public library. His laptop on the side, he is busy to copy out a whole chapter from a book page he was reading.

"Still trying to find a way to save your brother, huh?" Ruby says from behind him.

"I will never stop… Till the last minute…" He answers without stopping typing on his keyboard.

"And if I gave you real information on who holds Dean's contract..."

"You really don't have any decency, huh?..." He raises his voice, making the people around look dagger at him. "Sorry…" He whispers to them.

Ruby settles on a chair next to him. "I heard some rumors that there's a big new up-and-comer in town… Real charismatic leader, if you ask me …" She murmurs, leaning close.

"And?..."

"She is the most powerful you'll ever meet in your entire life…" Ruby delicately laying a hand on his forearm.

Sam briskly goes up from his seat, puts his laptop in his bag and leaves the place. At the exit door, he turns around, looking at Ruby to follow him. "Better that we continue this talk somewhere else…" He tells her, pointing at a bar across the street.

.

"You have a name?..." Sam abruptly asks soon they are settled.

"You're still mad at me?…" She murmurs, trying to touch him again. "Oh, whatever" She says as she sees him moving away. "Her name is Lilith… And she might be the one holding the contract… I'm not a 100% sure yet… But it's most likely one of her kind that can have those sort of things… So, I did some Hell math… Her, walking around just when Dean's year is nearly up… You know, one plus one…"

"Where can we find her?"

"Oh… Well, that's the tricky part… Since I'm helping you guys out… Down there, they consider me a bit like an outcast lately… I have a hard time to get stuff out of those lousy Demons…"

"See… You are doing it again…" Sam sighs.

"Doing what?"

"Not telling us the whole truth… Holding back information…"

"I swear… That's all I know for now… I'm working my ass off for you guys to, at least keep your head above the water… And I never even receive a stupid 'thank you' from you…"

"Oh, please Ruby… Cut the winning… It's really hard to trust you… Do I have to remind you your last doing?... The promise you made me not to get Eli involved… And what did you do, huh?…"

"I had too, otherwise you were all dead by now!..."

"Yeah!... That is such a convenient excuse… And where is the Colt?"

"What?... You lost the Colt?"

"As you don't already know that!… It strangely disappeared from Dean's hand, when you were just next to him, giving him that potion while he was unconscious…"

"And you really think I did this?"

"Who else could it be?... We were sending Abrahel and her two henchmen back to Hell… There was nobody else in that warehouse… Anybody, but you, Ruby… Start to do your Hell math again…"

"I don't have it, I swear…"

"Okay… I've had it with you... Bye Ruby…" Sam says, rising from his chair and putting the strap of his bag over his head.

.

"Where's Sam?" Eli asks when she enters the living room.

"At the library… Again…" Dean answers, rolling his eyes on the ceiling. "You still didn't told me how your talk with Bobby went?" He asks, preferring changing the subject.

"Great!... And you were right; I wasn't aware of all the facts… The circumstances were way more torturous than they seemed… It was so stupid of me to doubt my own father and believe a Demon story… Well, I was not totally believing it at first… But when I saw my mom in that dream… The things she said and all…"

"It was your subconscious that made the script, Eli… And we know now that it was that root that activated all your regrets, your sorrows and your guilty conscious…"

"I know… But anyway, I feel like I owe you all the biggest apology ever!..." She smiles.

"Like I always say: Family is the most important thing we have… And certainly in the weird life we're living in… So, we need to hold on to it..."

"Dean… Your year is nearly up and…"

"Don't start… I know… But, I did what I did and now I have to face the consequences… Don't hear me wrong, I don't regret a thing… Sam is my brother… I just had to do it…"

"Could we at least make peace? Stop fighting all the time?... I know you don't share… Well, you know… My feelings and all…But…" She drops her gaze on the floor.

"Eli… I never said I felt anything for you… I do care about you… A lot, believe me… And that's why I pushed you away… I want you to be preserved of all that pain and suffering when I will be gone…"

"Nothing is done yet… We could still find a way to save you… And that is what Sam…" She pleads.

"Stop right there!… You said you didn't want to fight anymore… So, that conversation is forbidden ground…"

"But… There is still hope… I know it…" Eli raising her voice.

"Damned!... Will you stop trying to get me out of that deal! There is no way of getting out of it without you and Sam getting dragged with me in the Pit!" Dean starts to yell.

"You don't know that!... You just told me never believe in Demon's talk… What are you doing now, huh?" She's screaming too.

"Oh, since you never believe what Ruby says!... You jump right into whatever she tells you!..."

"That's so not fair… Ruby is on our side!"

"Our side?... Really… Our side?... Maybe yours but she ain't on mine!... Don't you see it?... All she wants is you and Sam getting what you suppose to be... The King & Queen of Hell!... And she does everything to be sure she catches the best seat when that happens!" He continues, coming closer to her.

"That is insane!... Look at everything she already helped us with... But, you know what?... I don't care... And no matter what you say, I will continue looking and searching... And there is nothing you would say or do that will stop me from trying!"

"Oh really?..." He gently pins her against the closed door, holding her wrists on each side of her head. "I want you to stop right now... Or I will kill you myself!"

"Well, what are you waiting for, huh?... Just do it... It will be you or the pit; I'm down both cases anyway... Because, I will do anything... You hear me, anything... Even if that means making a deal with Lucifer himself or drink all the Demon blood there is and massacre every single one of them... No one will stop me from saving you from Hell, Dean!..." She whispers, tears starting to form in her eyes.

The tension between them slowly starts to go down, their gaze locked at each other. Dean's face comes closer and closer to Eli's. Their lips finally touch, hesitant at first, but quickly their kiss deepens and their bodies clinging against each other. He lifts her up to drag her to the old couch near the fireplace, continuing to embrace her. She lifts his t-shirt. He helps her to get rid of hers. They both let themselves fall on the cushions, forgetting everything around them, just lead by their passion.

.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Eli is asleep in her bedroom. A shadow slowly approaches her. "Eli?... Wake up…" A voice whispers, gently shaking her shoulder. She starts to mumble and turns around on the other side of the bed. "Eli… It's urgent…" The voice comes again.

"What?..." She finally opens her eyes and switches on her bed lamp. "Arhhggg!… Ruby… Damned, it's the middle of the frigging night!" She complains when she recognizes her.

"Well, no time to waste… We have a serious problem…" Ruby sits on the edge of the bed, her arms crossed.

"Serious how?"

"Dead serious… And it's not a figure of speech… Since you didn't react to my warning, Lilith decided to attack first and make you come out of the woods…"

"What warning?... Who's Lilith?..."

"What? Sam didn't tell you?... That's a surprise… Well, Lilith is the new boss in Hell town… And she really, really wants you both intestines on a stick… Guess she finally sees you as serious competition since you get rid of Azazel and Abrahel…"

"What kind of attack is she plotting?"

"The massive Demon kind… She gathered at least 30 of them in a small town called Monument, Colorado… A third of the population is already possessed…"

"30 Demons… At once… Ruby, this is way out of our league… With just the four of us?... Even with Sam and I fully loaded, we will never make it…"

"I heard Lilith had Dean's Contract…" She implies, not finishing the rest of her sentence to see Eli's reaction to it.

"Really?... You find a way?... Oh…" The young woman smiles, regaining some hope.

.

In the morning, Eli decides to first open the discussion about Lilith presumed attack to Sam. "30 Demons at least…" She finishes.

"Who sent them?" Sam asks her.

"You should know that… It seems you forgot to tell us about a certain Lilith…"

"Oh… So, Lilith really exists… I though Ruby was playing with us again…"

"You didn't check if that Demon really existed or not?... Do you know that she might hold Dean's Contract too?… You should at least mention her to us, Sam… You should at least verify it?..." She says in a reproachful tone.

"Don't get mad… I was really tired of all her lies and us being her puppets… I cannot trust her anymore… Not after what she did to you…"

"What she taught me can save lives, Sam… Maybe ours one day… And surely earlier that we think…"

"We still need to be careful... It could be another one of her traps…"

"What do you propose? Doing nothing? Let all those poor people in that village die?... Risking to go by the last chance we have to save Dean?... That's really what you are suggesting here, Sam?..."

"That's not what I implied… Don't push it too far, Eli… I'm just… I don't know anymore… I feel like being squeezed between a sort of wrong and right corridor… It's wrong to use our powers and what we have to do to get them… But, I know it's good because it can save people…"

"We don't have any other choice right now… We need to fight this… And when it's over, I swear, we'll stop… It's not like we could getting hocked at it, right?..."

"We should not talk about this in the house… Dean or Bobby could overhear our conversation and catch the idea of… You know…"

"Are you scared, Sam?... I would never imagine that…" Eli says sarcastically. "Well, you know me by now… I will go with or without you…"

"I never said we would not fight those Demons… It's just that we should make our plans with your father and my brother, but avoid getting them aware of… The thing…"

"But we will need to convince them to work with Ruby… Without her, we're dead before we'll even start this fight…"

"Yeah… Well, let me do the talking then, okay?..."

.

"Are you frigging insane or something?" Dean directly starts to scream when Eli and Sam told them the whole story.

"And what? Do you really prefer just staying with our thumbs in our asses and let those poor people die?" The younger brother retorts.

"Sam… 30 demons at once, plus Lucifer's bride on top of it?... Even if we gather all the hunters we know, this looks like a lost battle to me… Or more, the cavalry desperate last charge…"

"We will have Ruby on our side… And her knife…"

"Oh, really… Does she also gonna bring the Colt?"

"She doesn't have it…" Eli says, still staying behind Sam since the beginning of the conversation.

"Yeah, right… Of course, she doesn't… It just disintegrate because we forgot to re-fuel it with some hoodoo frigging spell we didn't know about!..." Dean going upset.

"It's okay, Eli… I can stand up for myself…" Ruby comes, standing in the frame of the door.

"Who forgot to salt the front door again?... Anyone can just slip in here like nothing…" Th elder asks around.

"For Lucifer's sake, will you for once shut up and hear me through!..." She flings.

Dean just shrugs and goes sitting on the arm of the couch. "Fine… I know a way to get rid of the Demons, Lilith included and to get you out alive in the process…"

"Okay… We're listening…" Sam crossing his arms on his chest in a waiting posture.

"I know a spell… It'll vaporize every Demon in a one-mile radius… Myself included…" Ruby starts to explain.

"Oh you poor little martyr…" Dean says in a mocking tone.

"What do we need to do?" Sam cutting his brother off.

"You can't do anything… This spell is very specific… We will just need to find a person of virtue… A real virgin…"

"Nobody's a virgin here…" Dean chuckles.

"Why do you need a virgin for?…" Eli questions.

"I need to cut the heart from her or his chest…" Ruby coldly answers.

"What? Are you crazy?" The elder comes.

"I'm offering a solution…"

"You're offering to scarify an innocent person… If we do that, we're not better than those Demons…" Dean starting to yell again.

"This is the only way I know to save many of those people and win against Lilith… It'll blow the Demons out of their bodies without killing them…. If their bodies are okay, of course…" She retorts.

"Sam… Please tell me you're not considering this… Are you really gonna go for it?... Why aren't you saying anything?..." Dean approaching his strangely silent brother.

"We're talking about 30 people, Dean… They're innocent too… Plus the Demon that might hold your contract..." Sam finally answers.

"What?... Does it mean we throw away the rule book and stop acting like humans?… You are really gonna go for that plan?... Really?..."

"Dean…"

"No!… No frigging way!… I'm not gonna let that Demon kill some nice, sweet, innocent person… If that's how you win wars, well I don't wanna win…"

"Guys, please… We all need to calm down a bit… This scenario makes me think about a case I read once… Tree hunters against a dozen of Demons… It was in the early 1940ties… They got that plan to attract them all in one room…" Bobby intervenes, going to one of his shelves and takes off a small white book. "That is how they did it…" He shows the others the plan the hunters used to get rid of the Demons.

"Bobby, you're a genius!…" Sam says when he finished reading, petting the man's shoulder. "It could really work… And the element of surprise will be our best asset…"

.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

They're all starting to pack their gear, after having red Bobby's book and finally deciding to confront the massive Demon attack set up by Lilith in Monument city. The only condition Dean requested was to do this without Ruby's help.

.

Eli, two heavy bags in her hands, puts them down next to Dean busy to ramble in his trunk. "There are two more upstairs and that's it… We had to stop Dad, otherwise he would have taken the whole armory…" She smiles.

"Even if we had an A-bomb, I don't think it would make any difference…" He answers, slamming the object he has in his hand.

"We're gonna overcome this… I know…"

"Eli… We don't know squad what we're gonna face up there… If I was the only one deciding here, I would not let us go in this giant trap… Because that is what it is…"

"You realize that if we are not fighting her now, she will come after us… And then what?..."

"Yeah… I know…" Dean sighs. "Come here…" He gently says, taking her in his arms. "But… It's just… This time, I'm scared, Eli… Really scared losing you all…"

"As you told me a zillion times… These are the risks of our job… And death is at the corner each time we go on a case… Weren't we lucky so far?" She tightens her embrace.

"Hey, are you stealing my punch lines, now?..." He jokes, lifting her chin with his hand and kissing the tip of her nose.

"Well, if it works on me, I thought it would work on you…" She shrugs.

"You know… About what happened the other day… Between us…" He starts a little bit embarrassed as they part.

"Don't… We were both conscious what we were doing… We could have stopped it at any time, but neither of us did… I suppose we both needed it at that particular moment… But, I know it won't change anything on what we discuss before it happened… So, no worries, we're clear…"

"Sure?"

"Sure…"

"Good…"

"Hum… You sound disappointed now…" Eli smiles.

"What?... Me?... Nan… Ahum… Let me put those bags in the trunk…" He changes the subject when he sees his brother arriving with the two other ones.

"Bobby asks if it wouldn't be better to go with two cars… Never know we got trouble with…" Sam says.

"What the Hell?... My baby never breaks down, you hear me?..."

"Okay… Okay… Don't get all worked up… Just a suggestion to get two escape possibilities in case off… But, all right… One car, it'll be…" Sam sighing heavily, already going back to the house.

.

Arriving at the edge of the little town in Colorado, they discover the local gas station totally wasted. It seemed like blown off, small pools of fuel still burning on the ground, neon tubes hanging flickering and the glass door and windows of the adjoined store smashed in. "What in heaven happened here?... Never saw such destruction's caused by Demons…" Bobby wonders, looking around.

"At least we know what direction they took…" Sam pointing at the woods behind it where a trail of flattened trees was pierce.

"Really looks like a tornado formed here at the gas station and continued its way in a perfectly straight line to the city center…" Eli comments.

"Let's continue a little further down the road… Is everybody loaded already?" Dean asks around. After some gun cocking noises, all are nodding 'yes'.

The Impala silently glides through town, every occupant looking through a window in a different direction, covering a 360 degree around them. "Power seems to be off in the whole neighborhood…" Sam whispers.

"That the first thing to do when you want to invade a town… That and cutting all possible the way outs…" Dean explains. "I'm surprised that we still could access it..."

"It's way to calm around here, if you ask me… I really don't like it…" Bobby mumbles.

"Now, do you believe me when I say it's a frigging trap?…" Dean looking at Eli in his rear-view mirror.

"We need to find a good position to hold and prepare it to pass the night… I'm sure they're waiting nighttime… Does everybody knows his part in our disposition?..." Sam questions, cutting his brother off once again.

"Yeah… You didn't stop listing it over and over the whole trip… I think I will even be able to recite it in my sleep..." Eli jokes.

"Police station… A squared building, no floors… Open space in the front and in the back… No other constructions around… And the best part, weapons and other accessories we need for our master plan…" Sam joyfully says.

Dean parks the car the closest possible to the main entrance.

.

"First step… We need to find where they store the winter salt… And salt every window and door around… " Sam looking at Eli for her help.

Bobby grabs that little white book from his duffel and locks himself in the sheriffs' office.

Dean breaks all the chains that hold the police department's weapon supply and replaces the real ammunition with gem salt. He also prepares one of the cells. He puts salt all around the room, placing a chair in the middle with chains soaked in holy water, the book of exorcism on the small table. "Nice and comfy… Just for you, Lilith…" He smirks.

.

"Before you send Ruby away… Did you ask her for some?… You know…" Eli silently asks Sam.

"What?... No!... If this plan works, we won't need it…" Sam answers.

"But… In case, Lilith is stronger than we expect… What are we gonna do?... We don't even have the knife…"

"The plan will work…" He stands by.

"How can you be so sure?… Do you know stuff that we ignore?... Again?..." She protests.

"Eli… We talked about this… We are not using that method ever again… You hear me… Never again…"

"Why?"

"Because I said so…"

"Oh? Since when are you the boss?..."

"I'm not the boss, Eli… It's wrong using it… That is a good reason, don't you think?… It's just wrong!"

She grabs his arm to force him to face her. "This might be the only chance we have to save Dean before its too late… And you just wanna do it like this?... The normal way?... Just ignoring what we're capable off to make sure we trap that Lilith Demon and release your brother from his deal?... Really?... Do you remember what that Crossroad's bitch told us?... Well, I start to believe she was right on your part…"

"On what part?..." He asks, getting rid of her hold.

"The part where she talked about what we really though deep inside of us… That we could be relieved when Dean will be gone because we are tired to drag him along with us…"

"Shut up!… You just shut up!… You're really crossing the line, Eli…" Sam mumbles, trying to hold his anger.

"I'm the one crossing the line?... Do you think I don't know what you're doing with Ruby when you think nobody's around?... I saw you the other night…"

He grabs her and pushes her further down the hallway. "If you tell any of this to anybody… I'll…" He menaces.

"You what, Sam?... You what?... You'll kill me?..." She burst into laughter.

"You seemed to have a lot of fun here?... What's so hilarious?" Dean coming down the corridor.

"Oh, not much… Sam just joking around… You know the usual…" Eli answers with an unnatural smile on her face.

"Are you finished?" The elder asks his brother.

"Yeah… Yeah… We're done." He answers going back to the main room.

"Okay… Now, we just have to wait for our guests to show up…" Dean rubbing his hands together in expectation.

.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Eli is looking outside through the Venetian blinds of the Police Station front window. "Hey, Guys?… We have company…" She suddenly calls.

Dean comes right behind her. "What are they waiting for?... They are just standing in line, not moving…"

"I think they have surrounded the place… I have some on my side too…" Sam yells from the other side of the little building.

"How many?"

"I count 9…"

"We have 7 up front… Bobby?"

"5… I have 5…"

"That makes…" Dean starting to mentally count.

"21…" Eli whispers.

"I was recounting to be sure…"

"Yeah… Sure…" She smiles. "These looks like only local civilians… I don't see any uniforms… Where are the Sheriff and his Deputies?..."

"Dunno… Maybe Lilith holds them as bodyguards or something…"

She shrugs. "Could be… That would comfort me thinking that she really fears us…"

"Or, she thinks that the over numbered of Demons will suffice to get rid of us… Or that she just doesn't give a flying damn about us… Feeling way too high in the food chain to deal with no grade humans like us…"

"Oh Dean!... You're such a positive thinker!..." She jokes.

"Yeah… You know me…" He smirks, surrounding her waist with his arm.

"What are we gonna do?... Wait till they move?..." She asks, lowering her voice.

"No… Wait till our main target comes out of the woods…" He answers in the same tone.

"And if she never shows up?... We cannot stay here forever…"

"Don't be so impatient… Haste and speed are never good advices… It's slow and steady that wins the race…"

"Waouw!... That is some heavy philosophy you pull out there, Socrates!..." She gently mocks him.

"I know you're fond of that kinda lines…" He says in a husky voice, holding her gaze.

"So, what are we doing?..." Sam interrupts, pulling Eli and Dean out of their tender head-to-head.

"Let them make the first move…" The elder answers, going for a last check of every doors and windows.

"And if they don't do anything?..." His brother following him.

"We'll see what they come up with, okay…"

"You know damned well that Lilith won't come here unless we get rid of them… Come on… Let's get over this…"

Dean looks at Bobby, silently asking for advice. The old man just shrugs, showing his approval on Sam's plan. "Okay… Open the front and rear doors…" He orders his brother.

.

As soon as the coast is clear, the Demons are rushing in the Station. They are subtly lead to the main office, all other possible ways blocked by salt lines placed strategically.

To be sure that they all going in with no way to escape, Dean stands in the middle of the room as bait, while Sam & Eli are salting behind them. The elder shoots a few cartridges of gem-salt on the first in lines, in order for him to safely going out of there.

Bobby, back in the Sheriff's office, a finger on the red button of the device in front of him, waits the 'go ahead' from the others.

"NOW!..." Dean yells suddenly.

A pre-taped exorcism Latin text suddenly comes out of the speakers disposed in every corner, Bobby's loud voice echoing around. The Demons instantly start to scream, knocking on the walls, trying to find a way out.

After ten minutes of that nearly unbearable hubbub, all becomes silent again. Carefully, Dean opens one of the doors and has a peek inside. He sees some of the people already regaining conscious, helping others to go back up again. A bottle of Holy Water in one of his hands, he enters and starts to spread it around.

"What are you doing?... What happened to us?..." A man asks.

Once the Elder is sure that none of them are possessed anymore, he starts to give them some explanation.

"We were what?..." A young woman questions.

"First possessed and then exorcised… I know it's hard to believe… But ask yourself one question: What are you doing all here and why are you barely remembering what happened the last 48 hours?…"

"What are we gonna do with them now?... We cannot send them back in town… From what we know, there are still some people missing… The Sheriff and his deputies for instance…" Sam murmurs to Dean.

"It was like I felt everything I was doing, but I couldn't do anything about it…" Another man suddenly says.

"How come we never heard anything like this on the news?..." An older woman asks.

Slowly, more persons are talking at the same time, their conversation turning into a hoo-ha.

"People… People…" Dean trying to have the group's attention again. "We really understand your concerns… But, for the moment, it would be safer you stay here with us till we're sure all danger is passed…"

"You think there are still other… Hum… Possessed in town?..." A man in his fifties questions.

"How much citizens in town?..." Dean requests.

"Around 200… Counting the farmers around…"

"Damned… Sam, we cannot continue this just the 4 of us…" The elder whispers to his brother, taking him in the hallway.

"Maybe we can tell them how to hold this place while we are tracking down the other Demons…"

"Hum… Not totally insane for an idea for once, brother… Okay, we leave Eli and Bobby here with the civilians… We go in town and see what we can fish out…"

.

The brothers are explaining their new plan to Eli and Bobby.

"And once this place is full…Where do you want us to send them to, huh?... Didn't they say they were at least 200 potential candidates for possession in this small town?... You see 200 people in here?..." She says a bit angry.

"We only speak about 30 Demons…" Dean answers.

"Oh so, suddenly you believe what Ruby said?..."

"And you really think that the other Demons will rush in like those did?... That was just the vanguard… I'm sure Lilith already knows what we did here… I say, let us flush her out and finish with it!..." The elder raising his voice.

"Whatever!... I'm so sick and tired of you and your stupid Kamikaze trips…" Eli slamming the door behind her.

"Whoa… Me?... A Kamikaze?... I'm more like a Ninja!... Don't you think?" He jokes, looking at Bobby and his brother.

"That's not funny…" Sam whispers.

"It's a little funny…"

"No, it's not!" Bobby adds.

"So… You prefer staying here and wait?..."

"No… But, before you rush out like some drunken cow-boy after a full night in a saloon… We first need to study this town in and out… Find all possible targets and then launch the attacks… Showing ourselves in places where Lilith the least expects us…" The older man calmly explains.

"Well, that was my plan too… I dunno why she burst out like that… Kamikaze… Come on…" Dean shrugs, following the others in the Sheriff's office.

.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Eli silently sneaks out of the police station from the backdoor. She just has summoned Ruby and she now looks right and left, waiting for her to show up. As usual, Ruby comes out of nowhere and from behind. "I knew you would need me at a certain point…" She laughs.

"Hush!… The others don't know I've called you…" Eli whispers to her.

"Houuuu… Playing secrets, huh?... Well as I can see… At least, you seemed to be all still alive…"

"Yeah, but we still don't have a clue where Lilith is hiding her rotten carcass… And there are also still people missing in this town…"

"Some might be already dead, you know… You will not be able to save them all… Oh, whatever… So, what do you want from me?"

"I need a little bit of your... Fuel… Just in case…"

"And what does Sam wants?"

"Nothing… And he should not know about this… You hear me?... You are not telling him squad…"

"He is still against it, huh?..." Ruby smirks.

"More than ever… But, I know sooner or later he will come to it… He has too… Once I will prove him that we can do good things with it… I'm sure he will change his mind..."

"Oh sweet sweet Eli… You are so optimistic and naive sometimes… I don't know if it's frightening me or if I just wanna burst into laughter... But, tell me one thing, Hun… How am I supposed to protect you, if you're not playing the game right?…" She sighs.

"So, you have some with you or not?" She diverts the conversation.

"All right already... Here… That should do it…" She gives her a small black phial.

"Thanks…"

"You're welcome… But, still, try to convince your partner to use it too… Lilith is really dangerous and it would be better that both of you confront her at once…"

"Sam isn't my partner!..." Eli abruptly bursts out.

"Sensitive zone, as I can hear… When are you gonna understand that you and him are meant to be..."

"Screw you, Ruby!…"

"Thank you… I take that as a compliment…" She laughs, before disappearing into thin air.

.

Before entering the station again, she hides the little bottle into her jeans pocket. Carefully, she opens the door to check if anybody is around before sneaking in again.

"Where were you?" Dean asks as she enters in the office room.

"Bathroom!..." She innocently replies with a nice smile on her face.

"We are ready to go…"

"Okay… Be careful…"

He winks at her and starts to walk away. "Dean?... Wait!..." She calls him.

"What?..."

"In case you find Lilith's hiding place… Promise-me you won't face her on your own… I mean it…"

"Eli… You might think I'm acting like a sort of suicidal brad lately… Now that my time is nearly up and all… But, believe me, I'm not gonna ruin maybe the only chance I have to stay alive… I know I can be insensitive sometimes... Or show myself like one… But, I not… I'm really not… And we need her alive, right?"

"Yeah… We need her alive to release the contract…" She whispers, gazing at her shoes.

He gently puts around her hear one of her red locks and kisses her forehead before walking away.

.

"I ask those guys who wants to volunteer to help us... There are now two at each side of the building... I left the women in the main office..." Bobby explains to his daughter.

"And what are we suppose to do now?..."

"Nothing, just waiting till the boys come back..."

"Well, that's not an option for me... I'm getting after them... If they don't know I'm there, I could be more effective in helping them..." She says already putting her jacket on and going for the front door.

"Eli, no!..." He grabs her by the sleeve. "I'm not gonna let you do that..."

"Dad... Let me loose!... I'm going!..." Her eyes suddenly hardening.

"You've changed so much lately... I hardly recognize you... What happened to you?..." Her father gently asks.

"Dad, not now..." She gets rid of his grip and leave the station.

Once she is out of site, she takes the little bottle out of her pocket. She puts a few drops in the palm of her hand, looking at the thick red color of it. She smirks and licks it with delight, quickly feeling the effects in her.

.

Eli starts her search at the edge of the city center, pretty sure that Lilith would preferably hide in a place where she can easily get out of. A luxurious white country house, immediately draws her attention. She carefully approaches, knowing that she might be spotted any time. When she sees the two sheriff's deputies holding the main door, she is now convinced it is her hideaway. She also senses that Sam is near, another advantage she discovered from the blood. In order to keep her surprise effect, she decides to stay put till she hears the encounter's subsumption of the brothers and Lilith.

A few minutes later, the two deputies guarding outside are rushed in the house at the sound of a huge detonation. Eli runs out of the bushes, crossing the front yard at top speed and starts to climb the X braces pinned on the side wall to enter the place through a second floor window.

She knees in the middle of the room, closing her eyes to feel in which corner of the house is Sam. "Living room..." She whispers to herself.

Step by step, she cautiously goes down. At the end of the stairs, she is suddenly grabbed from behind and dragged into a dark room. She wants to scream, but a huge hand comes over her mouth. She struggles to get rid of the shadow that his holding her, giving it a elbow kick in his stomach. Fortunately, hard enough to make him do a step back, leaving her the possibility to turn around and face her attacker.

"Hello Eli..." The Sheriff's husky voice comes. "My master will be very pleased to finally meet you... And she will be very generous towards me..." He viciously laughs, coming closer to her.

Not thinking for a second, she grabs his weapon still hanging on his belt, moves back a little and shoots him three times in the chest. That just makes him hold his gesture for a moment, looking at her with a nasty smile on his face and coming for her again. She drops the gun and put her arm in front of her, closing her eyes and starting to concentrate. The Sheriff instantly freezes, his mouth going open, his body shaking and the black smoke coming out of him. He falls flat on the ground, his head on Eli's shoes. She gives him a small kick to turn him around. "Have a nice holiday in Hell, asshole..." She says before running for the hallway.

.

She comes face to face with Sam. "I knew you wouldn't listen!..." He screams at her, taking her by an arm and dragging her in the room again.

"Where is Dean?..."

"Oh, because you care?..."

"Of course, I..." She pleads. "Ho, ho, ho..." She softly laughs. "I can't believe it... You took some, didn't you?... After all your lectures over wrong and right... Don't do this, Eli... It's just wrong... Where did you get it from? Ruby?... Where and when did you see her?..."

"None of your damned business... And yeah... I took some... But, it wasn't enough it seems... And it's all your fault!"

"What?... My fault?..."

"She's gone, Eli... I cornered her in a room, but the minute you arrived she vanished... I had her in my control and you just..." He menaces her by lifting an arm, ready to slap. But stops his movement by taking a deep breath.

"Where is Dean?..." She hardens her tone and her gaze.

"I left him in the kitchen, exorcising the deputies... So, you have time to explain what you are really doing here and how did you find us?"

"I can find you anywhere anytime, Sam... And you know that, because you knew I was here, isn't it?"

"So, you avow being under the influence too then..."

"Oh, please... Stop patronizing me!... And you are as guilty as I am in Lilith's escape... If you weren't so egocentric and if you just could stop pretending to be the new godfather of Hell... We would have done this together... And might certainly have succeed by now!... Do has I said, don't do what I do, huh?... Well, played Sam Winchester!"

"I'm just doing this to protect you, Eli!..."

"I don't need your protection... I can protect myself!... You have ruined everything!... Why?... Please tell me why?..."

"You better go back the Station, before my brother's sees you here and start to have more suspicions about us that he already has..."

"I won't go before you telling me exactly what is inside of you, Sam..."

"Later..." As she wants to talk again, he hardens his look. "I said, later..." He says between his teeth.

At the other side of the door, Dean is silently going back to the kitchen after having listening to this strange conversation between Eli and his brother.

.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

After Lilith sudden desertion and the hunter's group finally having flushed out every Demon in town, Bobby discusses with the priest from the local church community while the brothers and Eli are helping the people to return safely to their homes. "I know it's all hard to understand, Father... But, I'm sure you will find a good way to explain the situation to your flock at next Sunday mass..." The old man gently says.

"Mister Singer... Don't you worry for us anymore... You did already so much... And I see this as a great miracle for our congregation... Imagine that we now have proof that Heaven and Hell really exists... That we have the possibility to fight the Demons... Any Demon in us... What a better way to worship our Lord?..." The priest joyfully answers.

"Some are pretty shacked up... It is a very stressful experience... Certainly when you don't know what is happening to you..."

"And I will be there to comfort them and let them feel the strength of our Lord Jesus... Sir, in the name of the whole town of Monument, I would like to thank you, your daughter and your boys for having saved most of us... And get rid of the Demons in our town... We will never be the same again, for sure... But, I'm sure we're stronger against Evil now... God bless you and might his light shine upon you on every step you make to continue this battle..."

"Yeah... Thanks, Padre..." Bobby shaking the priest' stretched out hand.

.

"Okay... What are we doing now?... Did you find another case we can handle?... Don't feel like going home..." Dean says to his brother while Eli is walking home an old lady.

"Dean, we're already on a case…" Sam answers.

"Whose?"

"Yours!… For pit's sake!..."

"Oh... Really?... You still believe we can do something about it?…" The elder ironically comes.

"What else have we been doing lately, huh?... Other than trying to break your deal?"

"Chasing our tails, that's what we're doing!… Sam, we've talked to every professor, witch, fortune-teller and two-bit soothsayer on this frigging planet… Nobody knows squat… Now, we also have lost Lilith… For sure that she won't come out of her mud hole till she's certain I'm down... And we don't know who janked the Colt either... So, until you actually find something new... And I mean, really something with good and solid proof... I'd like to continue my job…" Dean raising his voice.

"Dude, drop the attitude with me, will ya… And stop trying to act like you're not afraid…"

"I'm not…" He comes slightly stung.

"You're lying!" Sam cuts him. "And you may as well quit it because I can see right through you…"

"You have no idea what you're talking about…"

"Oh yeah, I do… You're scared, Dean… You're scared because your year's running out and you're still going to hell and you're totally freaked…"

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I know you… Because I'm being following you around my entire life… I mean, I've been looking up to you since I was four, Dean… Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother… So yeah, I know you… Better than anyone else on this face of the earth… And this is exactly how you act when you're terrified… And, I mean, I can't blame you… It's just… I wish you would drop the show and be my brother again for the time we've left together…" Sam trying to hold the tears slowly forming in his eyes.

"You're right..." Dean softly answers after a moment of reflection. "And I'm sorry... It was certainly not my intention to hurt you, Sam... But, this is the way I am... You know that..."

"So let us continue to search... That's all we have left... We all still have hope to save you, Dean... Believe me, we do..."

"Hum, hum..." The elder nods. "Okay... What do you propose then?..."

"There's one thing we still can try… Even knowing you don't like her..." Sam carefully says.

"Oh no, Sam…"

"Let's see if Ruby can drag something out of any Demon's informer she has… Just to be sure..."

"I'm not gonna have this fight again… She has no way to save me, Sam..."

"Oh really... And you know that for sure?"

"Yes, I do…"

"How?"

"Because she told me, okay?" He suddenly bursts out.

"What?... When?..." Sam questions, a surprised look on his face.

"She told me... Already a moment ago... She told me flat out that she could not save me…"

"And you just neglected to mention this at some point?... Now you're keeping secrets from me?..."

"You really wanna talk about who's keeping secrets from whom these days, bro?..." Dean's look hardened.

"What do you mean?..." Sam's face suddenly showing some anxiety.

"What exactly is that 'thing' you and Eli are taking?... You know, to get your powers or whatever you are calling it?..."

"Okay, guys... We can get out of here... I'm starting to feel depressed of staying in 'middle-of-nowhere' city..." Eli joyfully interrupts them, back from the city center.

"We will continue this conversation, later..." Dean whispers at his brother before making the round of his car and sitting in front of the steering-wheel.

"What's the matter?..." She asks Sam.

"Nothing... Get in the car!..." He orders her.

.

The long drive home has a little bit appease the tensions between them.

Dean decides to be the first to break the heavy silence that ruled in the house since they came back. He gathered all of them in the living room. "Hey, listen… I've been doing some thinking… Eli, Sam... I want you to know, I understand why you went after the Crossroads Demon and why you're looking under each Hell rock to save me… If the situation was reversed; I guess I'd have done the same thing… I mean, I'm not blind… I see what you're going through with this whole deal situation… Me going away and all that… But, I'm sure you're gonna be okay…"

"You think so?..." Sam approaching his brother.

"Yeah, you'll all keep hunting… You know, you'll continue to live your lives… You're stronger than me… You are… You'll get over it… But, I want you to know that I'm sorry for putting you through all this… I am…"

"You know what, Dean?... Go screw yourself…" Sam going for the kitchen fridge and grabbing a bottle of beer.

"What?"

"It's not an apology I want from you or a sort of last dead which list... You know, I'm a big boy now… I can take care of myself!…"

"Sam... Why are you acting like this?... I'm sure it's already hard enough for Dean to say all this out loud..." Eli intervenes.

"Oh well, excuse me…" Sam flings, engulfing his beer in one shot.

"What do you want from me then, huh?" Dean asks his brother.

"I want you to quit worrying about us?... I mean, that's the whole problem… I don't want you to worry about me or Eli or Bobby, Dean... I want you to worry about you... I want you to give a crap that you're dying…"

"I don't wanna die… I don't wanna go to hell…" Dean softly whispers.

Bobby, who preferred staying silent during the brother's argument, finally rises from his chair and takes Dean in his arms. "Okay, Son... We'll figure out a way... We'll be there for you till the last minute..."

.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

"Bobby finally discovered a way to trace Lilith…" Sam says, arriving out of breath at the end of the Bobby's scrap yard.

"Wow and with just… uh… Thirty hours to go…" Dean rubbing his hands full of grease on a cloth.

"Dean… Hum... Look, we're cutting it close, I know… But, we're gonna get this done… I don't care what it takes… You're not gonna go to Hell. I'm not gonna let you… I swear… Everything's gonna be okay…"

"We still need to talk..."

"About what?... Don't tell me you actually wrote a last will..." Sam trying to make it sound like a joke.

"No... I want to know the whole story about that substance you're both taking... And what kind of powers you acquire..."

"I don't know what you are talking about?..."

"Okay, take me for a damned fool... I thought that with what's left for me to live, you would finally be totally honest with me..."

"Dean... I swear... There is nothing... Eli and I just experience some left over from our previous abilities... We still have some of it... And it's Ruby that helped us to practice it... But, don't worry, there are only little things... You imagine, if we had superpowers that we would have used them already... And we wouldn't be in this position... You would already been saved..." Sam clumsily explains.

"Hum... Hum... Right... And why didn't you tell me about your sudden discoveries?..."

"Because, we... We were scared of your reaction... You know, you already look at me like I am a freak..."

"I do not..."

"Yes, you do... Dean, I have a hard time dealing with that Demon blood in me... I'm trying hard to live with it... And do the best I can..."

"And there is nothing else?... Really nothing else you want to tell me about?..."

"Really nothing..." Sam lowering his gaze.

"You promise?..."

"Yeah!..." He steadily answers, looking right into his brother's eyes. Dean suddenly makes a step back when he sees flashes of Sam's face changing into different monstrous masks.

"What?..." The youngest asks.

"Nothing... Nothing... I think I stayed too long in the sun, working on my car... I need to drink something..."

"Come... Eli made some fresh Ice tea..." Sam joyfully comes, putting an arm around his brother's shoulder and gently dragging him back to the house.

.

On his desk, Bobby has placed a strange device above a map of the Eastern US. A sort of giant compass mixed with a pendulum. "See, with the right name and the right ritual... There ain't anything you can't suss out of this thing..."

"Like the town Lilith's in right now?" Eli asks.

"Pumpkin, when I get done, we'll know even the street name…" The old man starts to swing the pendulum, reciting an obscure Latin text.

Suddenly, the device stops in a strange angle, pointing at a city. "New Harmony, Indiana…" Eli reads.

"We have a winner… Go get the book of maps from Indiana, Dear..." Bobby gently asks her.

In the meantime, the two brothers entering the house. Dean directly going for the kitchen and taking a bottle of beer out of the fridge. "Ice tea are for queers..." He mouths to his brother, starting to walk, swigging his hips like a woman to the living room and making Sam bursting into laughter.

"What in Heaven is happening to him now?" Eli, holding in her arms the atlas of Indiana, asks when she sees him passing by her.

"Too much sun... I guess..." Sam stutters, still laughing.

"Dad found something..." She drops dead serious, instantly making the two brothers stop their childishness.

.

"All right… Let's go…" Sam exclaims when the pendulum fixes a street on the map of New Harmony.

"Whoa!... Hold on!... Holster it up there, Tex…" Dean comes.

"What's the problem?"

"What's the problem?... Where do I begin?... First of all, we don't have any real proof that Lilith actually holds my deal… And we know when that bitch just winks, the world around her stop breathing... Second, even if we get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her… And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your two giant heads as trophies on her Hell wall?... Should I continue?" Dean explains to Sam and Eli.

"Ha!… Ain't you bringing down the mood?" Bobby says.

"It's a gift." Dean Smirks.

"I'm sorry... But, what do you want us to do then?" Eli asks him.

"Just because I gotta die… It doesn't mean you have to come with me… We go in smart or we don't go in at all... That's what I want us to do..."

"Okay, fine... If that's how you wanted, I have a solution…" Sam says with contentment.

"Do you?" Eli comes, turning an astonished face to him.

"Yeah, a sure-fire way to confirm it's Lilith… And a way to get us a real McCoy, demon-killing Ginsu…"

"Damn it, Sam… No…" Dean heavily sighs, when he understands whom his brother is mentioning.

"We are so pas arguing… Dean, I'm summoning Ruby…"

"The Hell you are!... Don't we have enough problems as it is?…"

"Exactly… And we got no time and no choice either…"

"Come on, man… She is the Miss Universe of lying skanks, okay?... Let me give you a few examples to refresh your memory... She told you that she could save me... A lie... She seems to know everything about Lilith, but forgot to mention she owns my soul… Another lie, by omission, but still a lie... There is a great chance that she has the Colt... And certainly some other things that I do not know of!... Do I need to go further?..." Dean explains, counting every deed on his fingers.

"Okay, she's a patent liar… But, she's still got the knife..." Sam trying to make his brother change his mind.

"Dean…" Bobby gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Damned... Don't you get it!... I bet she even works for Lilith…"

"Dean... My father finally find us a way to trace that bitch anywhere on this frigging planet... We need to grab this opportunity... No matter any means it takes to nail her... Please let us do this..." Eli pleads.

"And by any means you mean what exactly, huh?..." He asks, looking dagger at her.

"Okay... Give us another option then…" Sam coming to Eli's rescue, not wanting his brother going further in the discussion.

"Sam's right, Son…" Bobby trying again to reason Dean.

"No, damn it!..." The elder yells. "Just no…" He repeats a little calmer down. "We're not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys wanna save me? Find something else." He finishes, returning to the table full of books.

"Where're you going, Bobby" Sam asks him when he sees him taking his jacket.

"I guess to find something else…"

Eli comes next to Sam. "He knows, does he?" She whispers.

"Dean?... No... Well, like I told you, he has suspicions on something, but no hard proof... We discussed and I lead him on..."

"What?... You lied to your own brother?..."

"Oh, now you want to play goody-goody?... Well okay... Please tell him the truth if you want..." She turns around to look at Dean leafing through one of the books on the table, but she doesn't move. "That's what I tough..." He says, hardening his gaze to her.

.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

On the basement's floor, Sam draws a summoning symbol with chalk and places a copper bowl full of sulfur in the middle. He recites a Latin text and at the last sentence strikes a match and throws it in the middle of bowl.

"You know… Phones work too… Hey Sam… How's live?" Ruby smirks.

"How do you get around so fast?"

"I got the Super Bowl jet-pack… So, you called?" She crosses her arms on her chest and leans against a beam.

"You knew it, didn't you?... All along..."

"Um… Gonna need a tiny bit more…"

"About Dean's deal… And Lilith holding it."

"Yes, I did…"

"And what?... You didn't think time was important?" Sam going slowly mad.

"You weren't ready..."

"For what?"

"If I told you, you two yahoos would have just charged after her half cocked... Like you did with the Crossroad's Demon... And Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty faces..."

"Well, Eli and I are ready now… I want the knife…"

"You're right about one thing... You might be ready… And now's the time to... Lilith's guard's down." Ruby approaches him and gently caresses his cheek.

"Is that so?" Sam grabs her wrist and slightly pushing her away from him.

"She's on shore leave… A little Rest & Relaxation weekend…" Ruby pouts.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know... Here, takes those hex bags and gives one of each to the others... She won't smell your sent when you're approaching…"

"So, you'll give us the knife?" Sam putting the bags into his pocket.

"No…"

"But, you just said…"

"You wanna just charge in with one little pig-sticker and waste of a true-blue window?... Forget it…"

"Okay… Then how?..." Sam waiting for her answer. "Oh... You want us to go fully loaded with your juice... No frigging way!..." He finally understands.

"Sam, you're both got some God-given talent… Well, not God-given, but you get the gist…" Ruby coming closer again, rubbing her body against his. "Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?... If you just could let you go to it, you could wipe her off the map with barely moving a muscle…" She purrs, brushing her lips all over his face.

"I don't want Eli to be involved again... You did enough damages already... Can I do it alone?" Sam trying to get rid of her embrace.

"I'm afraid not... And Eli won't let you push her aside of this either... This is your brother's life we're talking about..." She continues her seductive maneuvers. "Fact is, is that you never would have considered it... Not until you were…"

"Desperate enough?"

"You don't like being different…" She shrugs. "You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes. Like you're some sort of sideshow freak. But, suck it up… Because we got a lot of ground to cover and we gotta do it fast…"

"Who's fault is that?..." He swings, finally getting away from her.

She sighs. "But we can do it… Look, call me a bitch, hate me all you want, but I have never lied to you, Sam… Not ever… And I'm telling you, you can save your brother. And I can show you how…" Ruby smiling.

.

"So… You are their slutty little Yoda…" Dean suddenly coming out of the dark.

"Since when are you here?" Sam asks his brother, a little fear in his voice.

"Long enough to enjoy your little romantic head-to-head... Very instructive, by the way... " Dean answers, staring at Ruby.

"Jealous maybe?… What are you doing here?... I would have bet that you were drinking your asses off and/or pleasing some women by now... You know, last round before the big black hole..." Ruby turning around to face him.

"Oh no... I'm way over that already... I just wouldn't miss to say 'see ya soon' to you... And of course, I knew you'd show up… Because I knew Sam wouldn't listen… But, you're not gonna teach him anything. You understand me? Over my dead body!..."

"Oh well… You're right about one thing... I don't need to teach him… He already knows enough..." She smirks

"What you're gonna do is handing me that knife... Then you'll go crawl back into whatever slop you came from… And never bother me again, are we clear?"

"Eli and your brother are carrying a bomb inside of them and we'd be stupid not to use it… In those desperate times..."

"Dean, look… Just hold on…" Sam approaching is brother.

"Sam, don't!... Come on, man… Are you blind?... Can't you see this is another trick?..."

"That's not true!…" Ruby standing up for herself.

"She wants you to give into this whole demonic, psychic whatever... She want you to become her little Antichrist superstar…"

"No!... I want Lilith dead… That's all!" She continues to protest.

"Why?... Oh, right… Yeah... Because you were human once and you like kittens and long walks on the beach!..." Dean mocks her.

"You know, I'm so sick of proving myself to you… You wanna save yourself? This is how, you dumb, spineless dick!"

Dean makes a step back and punches Ruby in the face. Like it was nothing to her, she directly gives back two blows. One in his ribcage and the other on his temple.

"Ruby!..." Sam yells, trying to stop her. With a nimble movement of her legs, she makes him swing to the other side of the place. But, the fight continues, fiercely than ever till Ruby finally overcomes Dean. She suddenly stops when he's on the floor, a smirk on his face. "What the Hell are you grinning at?" She questions.

"Missing something?" Dean showing her the knife he jacked from her during the fight.

"I'll kill you, you SOAB!..." Ruby is ready to jump on him again, but she is stopped by a Devil's trap drawn on the ceiling.

"Like I said, I knew you'd come!..." Dean boast.

"Wait!... You're just gonna leave me here?"

"Let's go, Sam…"

"Oh, so you're just too stupid to live, is that it?... Then fine!... You deserve Hell… And I wish I could be there, Dean… I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle of your bones… I wish I could be there to hear you scream!..." Ruby yelling, while the brothers are going up the stairs.

"And I wish you'd shut your pie hole, but we don't always get what we want…" Dean locking the door from the basement.

.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The brothers are preparing their gears. "We're just gonna let Ruby down there?" Sam asks.

"That's the idea…"

"What if, hum… What if Ruby's right this time?... What if we can take out Lilith?..." He insists. Dean looks at him in an odd way again. "Quit looking at me like that!... What are you seeing, huh?..."

"Nothing... Sorry, but I have a hard time to believe that just by giving her a scary stare, Lilith goes poof?" Dean taking his senses back together, after having another monster-masks seizure.

"I don't know what Ruby meant... Maybe we should just go ask her…"

"You wanted the knife, I got you the knife." The elder showing him it.

"Listen to me for a second… Last time, Lilith snapped her fingers, she put 30 Demons on our ass... All we got is one little knife!... Like you said… We go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"This ain't smart…"

"We got one shot at this, Dean… Just one… So, if there's a sure-fire way, then maybe we should just talk about it."

"Sam, I'm practically sure what she meant by 'sure-fire way'... It's using you and Eli to wipe off Lilith..."

"And if that is the case, why not?... I'm sure Eli will do it..."

"No!... Damned!... Don't you see a pattern here?... We all are ready to give our life and souls for each other... And Ruby's just jerking our chains down that road... So now, we stop being martyrs… We stop loosing the people we care about... We take this knife and we go after Lilith our way… The way Dad taught us to… And if we go down, then, we go down swinging…"

"So, you wanna go just the two of us?"

"Hum, hum..." Dean nods. "What do you think?"

"Indiana, huh?" Sam chuckles.

"Yeah, where Lilith is on shore leave... Tell me something… What the hell does a Demon do for fun?" Dean wonders, grabbing his duffel and going for the door.

.

Dean is trying to start the engine from his Impala. "What the hell is with my baby?..." A hand is suddenly knocking on his window, showing him a piece from his car. " Where the hell are you going?" Bobby asks with a nasty smirk on his face.

"We got the knife…" Dean comes out of the vehicle.

"Yeah, I see that…" Bobby making a move with his head, showing Eli behind him, her arms crossed over her chest, an angry look on her face. "She also told me what you did to her?"

"What did you do, Dean?" Sam questions, hardening his gaze.

"So, you had the intention to go after Lilith without us? Do we look like ditch-able prom dates to you?"

"No, Bobby, of course not… But this is about me and Sam… Okay, this isn't your fight." Dean trying to calm the old man down.

"The hell it isn't!... Family don't end with blood, boy!... Besides, you need us… You're playing wounded… Tell me, how many hallucinations have you had so far?" Bobby asks him, taking him gently by the collar.

"How'd you know?" Dean says totally surprised.

"That's what happens when you got Hellhounds on your butt… And because I'm smart!..." Bobby gives him the car piece back. "We'll follow… Don't be stopping to pee every 10 minutes either…"

.

"Are you gonna tell me? Or do I have to force it out of you?" Sam asks his brother when they got on the main road.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Oh because there's more to know than what you did to Eli and the hallucinations?"

"No... I caught Eli summoning Ruby... And..." He sighs. "That made me angry... So, I tied her up on her bed..."

"You what?... Oh Dean... But at least it explains why Ruby answers my call so quickly... Eli's gonna make you pay for this..."

"Oh don't tell me... I know..."

"And what about those hallucinations?"

"Well, since this morning I see stuff that are not suppose to be..."

"Like?"

"Like... Ruby's face... Oh, oh..." He suddenly comes, seeing a police car behind them in his rear-view mirror.

"Pull over!" The officer orders in the bullhorn fixed on the roof of his car.

Dean slowly parks his car on the side road and cuts the engine. When the cop comes up to his window, he shows him the car papers and has a look at him. He briskly opens the door, knocking him down on the ground. He grabs the knife and pierces the officer's neck with it. Directly an orange light comes out of his wound, mouth and eyes.

"Dean? How did you know he was a Demon?" Sam just coming out of the car, while Bobby and Eli approach them, having parked their car behind the police one.

"That's what I was about to tell you... That is the kind of things I see lately… I could see its face… Its real face under that one…" Dean answers, out of breath.

Sam and Eli are looking at each other, a sudden worried look on their faces.

.

They hide the police car, aside from the main road, under bushes and branches.

"So what?... Now you're seeing Demons?... I mean, you can see if a person is possessed?..." Sam asks his brother.

"Actually, it's not all that crazy…" Bobby explains.

"How's it not that crazy?"

"What you got, Just over 5 hours to go? You're piercing the veil, Dean… You're glimpsing the B-side…"

"Little less New-Age-y, please…"

"You're almost Hell's bitch… So, you can see Hell's other bitches…" Eli answers.

"Oh moddafucking thank you…" Dean fighting with one of the branches that he tries to fix on the roof.

"Look at the bright side... It'll actually come in handy…" Sam intervenes.

"Glad my doomed soul's good for something…"

"Damn right it is… Lilith probably got Demons stashed all over town… We can't let them sound the alarm… If she knows we're here, we're dead before we're started…" Eli explains.

"Well, this is a terrific plan… I'm excited to be a part of it… Can we go, please?"

Eli grabs Dean's sleeve while Bobby and Sam are going up the little slope.

"I know... You're mad at me..." He directly says.

"There is no time anymore to be mad... I just wanted... How are you holding up?" She gently asks.

"It's freaking the hell out of me… If you mind me the bad words play here…"

"What other things did you see?..."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious…"

"The colors all around me seemed brighter… It's like I smell things miles away… That sort of things…"

"Hum…" Eli staring at him, trying to figure out if he's lying to her or not.

.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

They locate Lilith in a quiet and isolated suburbia of New Harmony. In a one-story house in a dead end street, she is holding a whole family hostage, playing the role of the sweet little daughter having her birthday with her mom, dad, grand-pa and grand-ma.

From across, in a residence for sale, the whole group is spying the family.

"It's the little girl… Her face is... Waouw!... Damned awful…" Dean says with disgust.

"All right then, let's go… We're wasting time…" Sam rushes the others.

"Wait!..." Dean holding his brother's arm.

"For what? For her to kill all of them?"

"Yeah, and us too, if we're not careful… Look… See that real go-getter mailman over there?... And dear Mr Rogers on his front porch?..." Dean explains while Sam is looking through binoculars.

"Demons?" Eli asks.

"Yeah…"

"Okay, fine… We ninja past those guys, sneak in and…" Sam getting slightly nervous.

"Then give a Colombian necktie to a little girl?"

"I know it's awful…"

"You think?" Dean looking dagger at his brother.

"This isn't just about saving you, Dean… This is about saving everybody…"

"She's gotta be stopped, Son…" Bobby comes.

"Could you do something thing like this?..." Dean looks at Eli. She gently smiles at him, nodding slowly 'yes'.

"Damn it!..." He suddenly whispers when he has another flash of different ugly faces superimposing with Eli's one.

"What?... What is it?..." She asks.

"Nothing... Hum... You're right... We have to do this..." He stutters, going for the door.

.

The brothers first attract the Demon mailman into a back alley, Dean playing as bait. Sam, coming from behind, stabs him with the knife, holding a hand over his mouth to avoid any noise.

Bobby, on his side, is busy to bless the neighborhood's water mains, dropping a rosary into it when he finishes reciting the consecrated Latin text.

Eli enters Mr. Rogers' house from the kitchen door. She silently threads her way through the hallway and to the front door. In a swift movement, she knocks the man's down and drags him inside before anyone could alert Lilith.

.

Dean, going for the backyard of Lilith's temporary new home, is suddenly crashed against a wall. "I'd like to have my knife back, please... Or your neck will snap like a chicken bone…" Ruby menaces him.

"He doesn't have it… So, take it easy…" Sam grabbing her from behind and threatening her with the weapon she covets.

"How the Hell did you get out?..." Dean asks her.

"What you don't know about me could fill an entire book… The kind with too many pages and too many big words for a guy like you..." She utters.

"Ewww!…" Dean suddenly comes.

"What?..."

"Nothing… I just… I couldn't see it before, but you're one ugly broad!..."

"Sam, give me the knife before you hurt yourself…" Ruby not wanting to comment Dean's last remark.

"You'll get it back when this is all over…" The youngest replies.

"It's already over… I gave you a way to save Dean, you shot me down… Now, it's too late… He's dead… And I'm not gonna let you die too…"

"Try and stop me and I'll kill you… Bitch!..."

"Hit me with your best shot, Baby…"

"Don't you dare touching a hair of my brother..." Dean coming into it.

"Guys… Guys… Hey… Have your little cat-fight later…" Eli, just arriving, pointing out at all the people standing on their doorstep... "Dean... Demons?..." She asks him.

"Oh... Yes... So much for the element of surprise…" He answers, looking at them.

"Go… Run… Run…" Sam screaming to the little group.

They go for Lilith's house. Sam tries to pick the lock as fast as he can, the Demons approaching dangerously. "What is taking Bobby so long?" Dean asks just as all the sprinklers from the front yard starts to spread the now Holy Water around, making the Demons scream and backing off.

.

When the front door finally opens, they discover the grand-mother's body in the entrance hallway. She's covered in blood. To set his mind at rest, Dean checks for a pulls. "She's dead... So, you think Lilith knows we're here?"

"Probably…" Ruby answers.

They go for the living room. There lays the grand-father, still sitting on his chair in front of the dinner table, his head in his plate and his eyes wide open. Suddenly a shadow sneaks behind Dean. He briskly turns around, grabbing it by the neck with one arm and putting his other hand on his mouth. He directly sees he is not a Demon but the father of the family. "Hush, we're here to help, okay?... I'm gonna move my hand and we're gonna talk nice and quiet… You got that?"

The man nods 'yes'.

"Sir? Where is your daughter?" Sam asks him.

"It's not… It's not her anymore…" He stutters, terrified.

"We know... But, where is she?" Eli gently comes, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Upstairs… In her bedroom… With my wife..." He answers, seeming a little bit appeased.

"Okay… Okay… Listen to me… I want you to hide in your basement… Put a line of salt in front of the door… Do you understand?" Dean orders him.

"Not without my wife… No!..."

"Yes, without your wife…"

"NO!" Father raising his voice.

Dean is forced to knock him out and he drags him in a closed to put him out of harm's way.

.

Sam, Eli and Ruby are climbing the stairs looking for the child's bedroom. Ruby checks the first room in the second floor hallway, Eli the second one, leaving the last to Sam. He discovers the mother and the little girl laying down on the bed, the child fast asleep. He carefully approaches, holding tight the knife's handle in his hand. The mother, her eyes wide open from terror, is mouthing several times 'do it' when she sees the weapon held by Sam.

After some hesitation, Sam finally raises his arm, ready to stab when Dean grabs him. "Stop!... It's not Lilith!"

Bobby on the other side of the street is checking his pocket watch. "Oh! Damn it!" He whispers when he sees how fast time is passing by.

.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

While Dean, in the basement, is locking up the parents and their little daughter, Sam is pushing Ruby in a empty room, followed by Eli. "Okay, Bitch... You win… What do we have to do?" He asks the Demon.

"What do you mean?" Ruby innocently requests.

"To save Dean… What do you need us to do?" He insists.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing in here?" Dean showing up behind them.

"Shut up for a second, Dean…" Sam holding out his arm to stop him from approaching.

"You had your chance… You can't just flip a switch… We needed time... Time that we don't have anymore..." She says in an unctuous tone.

"There's gotta be something, some way… Whatever it is, we'll do it…" Eli pleads.

Dean pushes his brother away for Ruby. "Don't touch her!... I'm not gonna let you go to hell…" Sam yells.

"Yes, you are!" The elder screams too.

"Dean, please..." Eli gently lays down a hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry… I mean, this was all my fault… I know that… But what you are doing is not gonna save me… It's only gonna kill you both…" Dean speaking more calmly.

"What are we suppose to do without you?" Sam trying to hide his sobs.

"Keep fighting… Take care of each other... And my wheels…" He smiles to his younger brother. "Sam, remember what Dad taught you… Okay?... And remember what I taught you…" He puts his hands on his shoulders.

"No!... I'm not letting this happen..." Eli approaching Ruby. "You promised me that if I did everything you asked me, there was a way!... And I did!... I did everything!..." She shouts, her eyes fulling up with tears.

Dean grabs her in his arms, trying to calm her down. "You did everything you could, sweetie... I know you did... What is happening is not your fault..." He whispers in her ears. "You have to promise me something... I need you to take care of Sam and Bobby... You are the most reasonable of the band here... So, that will be your job now..." He takes her head between his hands.

"I don't want you to leave... I won't be able to continue without you..." She weeps.

"Oh yes you will... I know you're stronger that you let everybody thinks... You lead me on since the beginning!..." He smiles.

"Don't say that!... It's not true... I..." Eli pushes him away.

.

Suddenly the house clock tolls midnight. "I'm sorry Dean… I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy…" Ruby softly says, when from a distance, the Hellhounds start to howl.

"Here they are…" Dean whispers.

"Where?" Sam looking everywhere around.

"There..." Dean pointing on his right.

An invisible animal starts to bark, making them all run away to the next room. Sam and Ruby are holding close the doors while Eli is spreading some black dirt on the floor all across the doorway. As soon as she finishes her line, the Hellhound immediately stops bouncing against it. Dean takes the bag from Eli's hands and also makes a line across each window.

"Give me the knife... Maybe I can fight it off..." Ruby suddenly comes.

"What?"

"Come on!... That dust won't last for ever..." She insists.

"Come on, Sam... Give it to her!..." Eli pleads.

"Wait!... That's not Ruby... It's not Ruby!" Dean suddenly yells.

Sam raises the knife, but just with a small swing of her arm, she makes him fly against the wall, letting him drop his weapon in the process. Eli wants to grab it, but she is faster and slams her violently through the room. She turns around to face Dean, who immediately is pinned on the other side of the room.

"How long have you been in her?" The elder asks.

"Not long... But, I like it!..." Lilith's voice chanting like a little girl. "It's all grown-up and pretty..." Her eyes change into a translucent white.

"And where is Ruby?" Sam requests.

"She was a very, very bad girl... So, I send her far, far away... How come you suddenly saw me in Ruby's?" Lilith smirks, coming near Dean.

"You know, I should've seen it before... But, you all look alike to me... Ugly as hell!..."

She briskly turns around. "Hello, Sam..." She approaches. "I've wanted to meet you for a very long time..." She grabs his chin and starts kissing him. "Ouh!... Your lips are soft..."

"All right, so you have me... Let my brother go..." Sam struggling to get rid of her grab.

"Silly goose... You want a bargain?... You have to have something that I want... Tsk, tsk, tsk... Poor you... You don't... Well, not anymore..."

"And if I come to soften the pot?" Eli trying to get her attention.

The Demon bursts into laughter. "Oh, come on... Don't be such a cheap hooker... Now that you've lost your juice supplier, you're both worse nothing anymore... I have the Colt... And... Yes, the knife..."

"So, this is your big plan, huh?... Drag me to hell, kill Sam and Eli... And then what?... Become Queen Bitch?..."

"I don't have to answer to puppy chows..." Lilith goes for the door. "Sic him, Boy..." She grins when she opens it, letting the Hellhound running straight to Dean. He grabs him by a leg, starting to shred him into pieces. He howls with pain.

"No!... Stop!..." Sam still pinned on the wall.

Dean is rapidly loosing a lot of blood from the several wounds inflicted all over his body.

"Stop it!... NO!..."

"YES!... All mine now!..." Lilith holds her hand in front of her, a bright white light coming out of it, dazzling Sam.

"SAM!..." Eli yells, closing her eyes to concentrate. Her body starts to shake as she was in an epileptic fit, blood coming out of her nose and ears. "NOW!..." She lets out with a long plaintive roar, opening her eyes again, a yellow glow in it.

Suddenly, Sam feels that he goes loose from Lilith's grip and immediately starts to march in her direction.

"It can't be... Go Back!..." Lilith said, quit astonished. "I said... Back!..." With her arm she tries to push him away, but her powers seem not working anymore.

Sam continues to advance, grabbing the knife on the floor. "I don't think so..." He raises his arm ready to stab. But, black smoke starts to pour out of formerly Ruby's body in a giant growl, rapidly leaving the place through the air discharge.

.

Sam drops the knife and look at his brother lying in a pool of his own blood. He knees besides him, starting to cry.

Eli craws to them too, her nose still bleeding from the effort. "No... No... No..." She whispers, gently putting his head on her thighs and stroking his hair.

"He's gone, Eli... We are on our own now..." Sam taking her in his arms.

.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

"I need to leave for a moment..." Eli says, taking her clothes out of a drawer.

"You aren't going anywhere... You have to stay with me..." Sam stutters, half drunk.

"We have to split... I can't bare this anymore, Sam... Did you see what happened yesterday, huh?..." Eli continuing to fill up her bag.

"Yeah, but... We can control it... It won't happen again... I promise..." He nearly begs her.

"You always say that... And each new case that comes around, goes more and more south!... I'm really tired of all this... I quit... You were right, all along... What we do is wrong… And this will never go any better... We even don't really hunt Demons anymore... We just jump from one to another and to another... And another... Chasing Lilith… And if we don't get what we want from the poor lads... We just zap them away with our… Frigging powers..."

"I want revenge!..." He roars.

"That is exactly what I mean... You just seek to apply your justice... And what about searching a way to get Dean back, huh?... The real purpose of our team... What about that?..." She yells, throwing the clothes in her duffel.

"Eli, stop!..." He grabs her by the arms. "I promise Dean to watch over you..."

"Dean died four month ago, Sam!... Get over it!... And I really don't think that killing Lilith will bring him back..."

"You seemed to get over my brother quiet easily!..." He flings.

She wants to smack him, but he stops her hand before it reaches its target. "And you dare pretending that you're watching over me... Just look at yourself!... More evil every day... And more drunk every night... I don't recognize you anymore... And look at the places we are living in!... Seedier every time... How low will you drag me to, Sam?..." She pushes him away.

"You know what?... Go to hell!... I don't need you!... Go away!... Leave!... I'm better off myself!..." He goes back to the armchair, but stopped in the middle of the room and comes back near her. "Nan... Wait!... You wanna know what I think what you've become?... I'm gonna tell you... You're just a frigging pitiful jealous bitch... That's what you've become…" He staggers, saving himself from falling by leaning with one arm at the corner of the bed. "And you know why you became a pitiful jealous bitch, Eli?... Because..." He points a finger at her. "Because, you have imagined in your stupid little mind of yours... That I give more attention to Ruby than to you... From the start, your only goal was to have me!… You love ME and MY powers... The sensation that it procures... And the danger I represents... You're just craving for it!... But, to get your reward, I'm afraid you'll have to stay with me till the end... And do as I say..." He gibbers with an evil smile on his face.

"I really pity you, Sam Winchester..." She grabs her duffel. "And you know what I think about you right now... I think you're just pathetic!..." She ends before slamming the door behind her.

.

In a glade surrounded by trees, an anonymous grave is marked with a simple wooden cross. The ground slowly moves open. First, a hand pierces the soil, then a whole arm, a head, a shoulder and finally a chest. Little by little, a whole body tangles from the bowels of the earth. The man places a hand in front of his face, to let his eyes getting used to the bright light. He looks around and sees all the trees in a 10 meter radius flat on the ground and the undergrowth all dried up.

.

In the house of Sioux Falls, Bobby is asleep on the couch. Some heavy knocks on the door suddenly wakes him up.

"All right, all right already… I'm coming!... Damned!..." He mumbles.

He opens the door, a nasty look on his face, ready to give the intruder a roasting for disturbing him during his afternoon nap. When he discovers who is standing in front of him, he freezes his mouth wide open.

"Hi, Bobby…" Dean says, smiling.

"D… D… Dean?... That's impossible…" The old man stutters.

"It's the real me… Will you let me enter or you are waiting for the winter to come?..."

Bobby slowly moves back, still not believing his eyes.

"I would gladly have a beer…" Dean going for the kitchen.

The old man takes two bottles out of the fridge and hand one over. Still on his guards, he goes to the living room, hoping that the young man will follow him. He furtively glances at the ceiling. Dean passes through the Demon's trap with no hesitation and sits on the couch. Bobby grabs a flask on his desk and swings Holy Water at him.

"I'm not a Demon, Bobby..." Dean says, wiping off his face.

"Sorry... Can't be too careful..." Bobby finally admitting it's the real guy. "How did you bust out?"

"Man… I have no idea... I just woke up in the middle of a pine forest..."

"That doesn't make a lick of sense..."

"Yeah... You're preaching to the choir..." Dean leisurely sipping on his beer.

"Your chest was ribbons… Your insides were slop… And you've been buried four months… Even if you could slip out of Hell and back in your meat-suit, you should look like a Thriller video character!... Do you remember anything?"

"Not much... I remember I was a Hellhound's chew toy... And then light out... Then I come from six feet under… That was it... I tried to contact Sam, but his numbers are not working... He's not?..." Dean suddenly anxious.

"He's alive... As far as I know..."

"What do you mean 'as far as I know'?"

"I haven't talk to him for months..."

"You're kidding... You just let him go off by himself?"

"Not totally by himself… Eli is with him…"

"And?..."

Bobby just shrugs.

"You should have been looking after them..."

"I tried... These last month haven't been easy, you know... For them or me... We had to bury you, Dean!"

"Why did you bury me, anyway?"

"I wanted you salted and burned. Usual drill... But, Sam wouldn't have it..."

"I'm glad he won that one..." Dean smirks.

"He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow... That's about all he said."

"What do you mean?"

"He was quiet... Real quiet... Like insensitive…"

"And Eli… How did she take it?"

"Hum… It was more difficult for her… We had to drag her away from the place… It really broke my heart to see her like that… At first, she told me she decided to quit the job… Go for a long travel around the country… Visiting all the places you told her once you wanted to see in your life… A sort of pilgrimage in your memory…" Bobby gently smiles.

"There is a 'but' coming, right?"

"Yeah… One morning, Sam and her just took off together... Without an explanation or nothing… I thought maybe they would do that voyage together… But, after a few weeks and a zillion phone calls with no return… I started to get worried… I tried to find them… I looked everywhere… But, they covered their tracks good… I suppose they didn't wanna to be found..."

"Damn it!... I fear the worst… Oh, they got me home okay... But, whatever they did, it is bad mojo..."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You should've seen the graveside... It was like a nuke went off... Then there was this... This force, this presence, I felt..."

"A presence… Like what?"

"On my way to your place, I stopped in a gas station in the middle of nowhere... There was nobody around… So, I forced enter and took some water and food… I also 'borrowed' that car that I parked outside… By the way, if you could make it disappear, I don't wanna… You know…"

"Yeah, no problem… I think I can manage to find the perfect hiding stop in my yard!..." Bobby jokes.

"Yeah…" Dean smiles. "So, while I was grabbing some supplies, the wind suddenly started to rise… Like a storm coming from nowhere… The whole place was quaking and shaking… And a loud ultrasonic sound started to pierce my ears and blew off all the windows… There was nothing natural to all this, I'm telling you… And finally there is this..." He lifts his shirt's sleeve and shows Bobby a red burned mark in the form of a hand on his left shoulder.

"What the...?" The old man says, amazed.

"Must be a Hell of a Demon to do a brand like that, don't you think?..."

"But why?"

"To hold up their end of the bargain."

"You think Eli and Sam made a deal?"

.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Dean is busy to make some research on several aliases and credit card companies Sam might have used. After having checked all the ones he could remember, Bobby advises him to look for the ones from Eli's. "Here, I made a list once… Never thought it could be useful one day…"

"You were spying on your own daughter?... Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Dean smirks.

"Don't start!... Wait the day you'll have kids!... You'll understand why I do stuff like that…" Bobby lectures him.

"Yatsee!..." The young man suddenly shouts out.

"You found them?..."

"Yep!... Say hello to Mr. & Mrs. Russell… They are at the Astoria Motel in Pontiac, Illinois… Ohw... Right where I popped-up... Hell of a coincidence, huh?"

.

"Where's Eli?" Ruby asks, looking all around the room.

"She left… She needed a break, she said…" Sam nonchalantly answers, sagged on the couch, playing with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

"How much did you already had today, Sam?" She asks, pointing at the liquor.

"Not enough it seems!..." He grins.

"Where did she go?"

"Don't know… Don't care…"

"Are you totally out of your mind?... You just let her go?..." Ruby yells, snatching from his hand the bottle he took on the table next to him.

"Maybe it's for the best that we split..." Sam shrugs.

"You know the rules..."

"Tell me something, sweet Ruby?... I wonder… Why?... Why is it so important for you to have us together, huh?..."

"It needs to be the two of you to face Lilith..."

"I get stronger by the minute... I don't think I need Eli anymore..." He challenges her with his gaze.

"You became quite an arrogant brat all of a sudden, Sam Winchester... Don't be so sure of everything... You and Eli meant... Need to be together… So, get her back!..." She orders.

"Why?... And I want the whole truth, Ruby... What is behind all this?... And don't tell me it just killing Lilith... As much as I love that sight... I know there is something bigger hidden behind it..."

Ruby approaches him. "There is nothing else, Sam... I swear..." She languorously answer, slowly caressing his chest. "She might fall into wrong hands… Or be hurt... Or worse..."

"Wrong hands?... What kind of wrong hands?..." He gently pushes her away, sitting on the couch again and going for the bottle of whiskey.

Ruby bends over him, grabs Sam's face with one hand, squeezing his jaws. "Get your ass out of this couch and find her!... You don't want to make me angry, huh, Sammy?... " She mumbles in a menacing tone.

"All right..." He answers, looking down.

"And for Hell's sake, start with a shower!... You stink!..."

Sam reluctantly rises from the sofa, slamming the bathroom door behind him.

.

In the motel hallway, Bobby and Dean are looking for Eli and Sam's room number. They knock on the door. "Just a minute…" A woman's voice comes from behind it. A few seconds later, a petite brown hair young woman in her underwear opens the door. The two men stare at her for a second. "So, where is it?" She asks.

"Where's what?" Dean replies, a bit astonished.

"The pizza that obviously needs two guys to deliver?"

"Sorry, I think we got the wrong room…" Bobby apologizes.

At that moment, Sam comes out of the bathroom. He freezes when he sees Dean on the doorstep.

"Hey, Sammy..." The elder making a step forward.

Sam directly jumps on him, grabbing the handle of the knife that had slipped in his back. He violently pushes him against the wall. "Who are you?" He mutters.

"Sam, wait... It's Dean... I've been through this already... It's really him…" Bobby intervenes to separate them.

"Like you didn't do this?..." Dean comes, putting his clothes back in place.

"Do what?" Sam asks, astonished.

"I know... I look fantastic, huh?" Dean smirks when finally Sam hugs him tight.

"I should probably leave... And let you with your improvised family meeting..." The young woman softly says, grabbing her clothes spread in the room and starting to get dressed.

"Yeah... That's probably a good idea... Sorry..." Sam looking at Dean to see if he could have recognize Ruby.

"So... Call me..." She says in a mischievous smile.

"Yeah... Yeah... Sure thing, Kathy..."

"Chrissy..." She corrects, enjoying Sam discomfort.

"Right!... Chrissy..." Sam waving at her before she closes the door.

"So tell me... What'd it cost you?" Dean scoffs.

"The girl?... Hey, I don't pay... Don't need too..." Sam answers, slightly stung.

"That's not funny, Sam... What'd it cost you to bring me back?... Was it just your soul... Or both your souls... Or something worse?... By the way, where's Eli?" Dean looking around in the room. "Don't tell me you hid her in the closet all tied up while you were... You know... With Chrissy..."

"You think we made a deal?"

"That's exactly what we think..." Bobby nods.

"Well... I didn't..."

"Don't lie to me..." Dean warns his brother. "Where is Eli?..." He insists.

"I'm not lying... And Eli...Well, she needed a break... She left two days ago..."

"Where?"

"I don't know... She didn't tell..."

"Did you try to contact her?..."

"I was about to go looking for her..."

"Oh, yeah... I could see that..." Dean pointing at the door, referring to the young woman that was with him.

"Dean... I... I'm sorry... I was..." Sam stutters.

"You still didn't answer me clearly... Why did you save me?..."

"Look, Dean... I wish I had done it, all right?... But, I didn't okay... I did not make a deal!"

"There's no other way this could have gone... Tell me the truth, Sammy..." Dean suddenly taking his brother by the collar.

"I tried everything... We tried everything... Even re-opening the Devil's gate... That's the truth... Hell, we tried to bargain... But no Demon would deal, all right?... You were rotting in Hell for months... For months... And I couldn't stop it... So, I'm sorry... It wasn't me... Dean, I'm sorry..." Sam on the verge of tears.

"Hey... Hey... Calm down... It's okay, Sammy..." Dean instantly lets his little brother loose. "You don't have to apologize... I believe you..."

"Don't get me wrong here... I'm glad Sam's soul remains intact... But, it does raise a sticky question..." Bobby comments.

"If he didn't pull me out, it must be Eli's doing?... But, where is she now?..." Dean says in a concerned tone.

.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

"So, what were you doing in this town, if you weren't digging me out of my grave?" Dean looking at his brother.

"Well, once we figured out we couldn't save you... We started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback..."

"Just the two of you?... Who do you think I am, a crippled old man?" Bobby interferes, stung to be set aside by them.

"Hum... Yeah, sorry Bobby... We should have called..." Sam apologizes.

"Why did you let her go?... And what did you do to her, huh?" The old man raising his voice.

"Nothing... I was pretty messed up... And..."

Dean rummages in the sofa and pulls out a bra from between the cushions. "Oh yeah... I really feel your pain!"

"It's hers... I swear..." Sam putting his hands in front of him in defence. "Anyways, we were tracking these Demons out in Tennessee... And out of nowhere, they took a left and booked up here..."

"When?"

"Three day ago..."

"Just before I busted out..."

"You think these Demons are here because of you?..." Bobby asks Dean.

"Or because of the person that made a deal... So, it could be that Eli is still nearby..."

"Or already in Hell..." The old man whispers, lowering his gaze.

"No!..." Dean quickly says.

"Dean, we have to consider the possibility that..." Sam softly says.

"No!... She's alive!... We don't have any proof yet that she made a deal!..." Dean starting to pace around the room.

"But then... Why would all those Demons gathered here?..."

"Probably to be sure she won't try to fight against the bad-ass Demon that dragged me out... Damned!... What do I know... But, it's gotta be connected somehow..."

"How are you feeling, anyway?" Bobby questions.

"I'm a little hungry..."

"No, I mean... Do you feel like yourself?... Anything strange or different since you came out of the ground?"

"Like something demonic?... Bobby, how many times I have to prove I'm me?..."

"Listen... From my experience... No Demon's letting you lose out of the goodness of their harts... They gotta have something nasty planned..."

"Really... I feel fine..." Dean sighs.

"We don't have a frigging clue on what they're planning, got a pile of questions and no shovel... I think we need some help..." Sam going to his laptop.

"I know a psychic a few hours from here… Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking..." Bobby proposes.

"Oh yeah!... Isn't it the same one that handled your wife's case back in the days?... It's worth a shot..."

"How do you know about that?... Oh, of course... Eli told you..."

Dean just smiles for an answer.

"I'll be right back..." Bobby grabbing his phone out of his jeans pocket.

.

"This is her address..." Bobby handing them a scrap of paper. "Hope you'll keep up with me..." He mocks Sam.

"Is he still driving like a grand-ma?" Dean giggles.

"Ha, ha, ha... So funny... Here, you drive... If you still can..." Sam throwing the keys to his brother.

"Hey, sweetheart… Did you miss me?" Dean pets his beloved Impala. He sits in front of the wheel, looking around like a kid getting his Christmas gift. Suddenly, his gaze stops on a small Ipod placed in front of the car radio. "What the hell is that?" He looks dagger at his brother.

"That's an Ipod… Welcome to the 21th Century..." Sam innocently smiles.

"You were supposed to take care of her… Not douche her up…"

"Dean, I thought it was my car…"

The elder starts the engine, a popular pop song coming out of the device. He turns to face his brother. "Really?... And don't say 'It's hers'!..." He harshly comments before ripping it from its base and throwing it over on the back seat.

.

A little bit further down the road to Pamela Barnes, Dean wonders. "There's still one thing that's bothering me… The night that I bit it… Or got bit… How'd you make it out?... Lilith was gonna kill you…"

"She tried… But... She couldn't…" Sam slightly embarrassed.

"What do you mean, she couldn't?…"

"She fired this… Like… Burning light at me… And… It didn't leave me a scratch… Like I was immune or something."

"Immune?"

"Yeah… Hey, I don't know who was more surprised… Her or me?..." Sam sighs. "She left pretty fast after that…" He shorten the explanation.

"Huh… And what about Ruby?... Where's she?"

"Dead… Or in Hell, I Suppose…"

"So, you still have been using your freaky abilities?"

"No…"

"You sure about that?... I mean, now that you've got immunity, whatever the hell that is… Just wondering what other weirdo crap you got going on…"

"Nothing, Dean… You didn't want me to go down that road… So, I didn't go… It was practically your dying wish…"

"And Eli?... Did she?..."

"No... Neither of us... We were hunting the old fashion way!..." Sam brazenly lying to his brother.

"Yeah, well… Let's keep it that way…"

.

"Must be here..." Dean comments at a house, parking his car behind Bobby's.

Sam gently knocks on the half-open front door. "Come on in, boys... We're in the living room..." A woman's voice calls.

The psychic and Bobby are sitting on the table already a glass of whiskey in front of them. "Welcome in my humble dwelling-place..." She smiles, turning her head to the brothers, dark glasses on her noze.

"Oh... You are..." Dean starts.

"Blind, yes... You must be Dean, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am..."

"Pamela, please... Is grumpy brother not with you?..." She jokes, making Dean chuckle.

"Yes, I'm here too..." Sam gently answers.

"Have a seat then... It's free, you know... If you wanna drink something, help yourself... There is everything on that sideboard there... Bobby already told me the basics..." She waits till the brothers sit down. "So, from Hell and back, huh?... That makes you someone really special, Dean..." Pamela says, putting a hand on his arm.

"How did you know I was sitting on this side?" Dean asks a little bit astonished.

She just let out a soft laughs. "Okay... Now, we have two things to ask the spirit world... Who gave the order to pull you out?... We already suppose its Eli, so we need some proof... And who actually did it?... Sweetheart, would you mind taking the tablecloth and some black candles in this cabinet?..." She turns to face Sam and points at the furniture.

Once the table is ready and the candles are lit, Pamela starts to explain the procedure. "Join your hands and try to forget about everything around you... Bobby, do you have something that belongs to your daughter?..."

"Yes... Hum..." He grabs his wallet out of his back pocket and takes out a tiny sleeve. "It's a lock of her hair..." He whispers, making the brothers chuckle.

"That's perfect... Keep it in the hand you'll hold me with... Dean, did you bring something back from Hell?... Or do you have anything that might help me to lead my search into the spirit world?..." Dean rolls up his sleeve to show the brand. He takes Pamela's hand and put it over it. "Awh..." She shivers at the contact of it. "That fells like a direct line to it..." She smiles. "Let's start this..."

.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Pamela recites a summoning spell, repeating it several times. When suddenly a wind, coming from nowhere, starts to blow inside the room, making the flame from the candles crackling. "Who are you?... What is your name?..." She finally asks. "Castiel… Good… Where do you come from?... Why?..."

"What?..." Dean requests when he sees the psychic's face expression change.

"He doesn't want to tell me who he really is… Why did you pull Dean out of Hell?..." She continues her conversation with the spirit. "Castiel, yes… You already told me that… Did you make a deal with Elizabeth Singer?..." The wind increases drastically, the whole room begins to shake. "I command you to answer… Argh!..." She lets out a scream, her body making erratic movements.

"Pamela, what is happening?..." Bobby asks, a bit concerned.

She seems to be in a lot of pain, struggling against invisible forces, her lips mouthing incomprehensive words. She finally falls unconscious, slowly gliding from her chair. Dean rises from his seat to catch her, the wind stopping instantly. He drags her to the couch, gently patting her cheeks. "Pamela?... Are you okay?..."

"Yeah… Yeah…" She pants. "Oh dear, that was intense…" She softly rises to sit down. "It's quite someone that Castiel… He didn't want me to know who he really was… But, I can tell you this… He is no Demon from any sort or any level…"

"Who or what is he then?..." Dean helping her to stand.

"I don't know… He said something about it's too dangerous to see his true face or something in that genre… I never felt something like this in my entire life… He is a very powerful entity… Very powerful… Oh, and Eli is fine…"

"Does he have her?..."

"He didn't say… When I mentioned her, he only said she was fine… This thing doesn't want to be found... Or not for the moment anyways…"

"Didn't he say anything about the reason he pulled Dean out of Hell?..." Sam requests.

"Not really… Just that it was something important and that he will be notified later…"

"What the hell does that mean?... Notified later?…" Dean scoffs.

"Guys, I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful than that…" She apologizes.

"No, Pam… You were a great help… Thanks…" Bobby hugging her when they were about to leave.

.

"We still have no clue what we're dealing with…" Sam says, rummaging in his plate.

"That's not entirely true… We got a name… Castiel or whatever… With the right mumbo jumbo, we can summon him… Bringing him right to us…" Dean taking a huge bite from his sandwich.

"Are you crazy?… Absolutely not… Did you see what he did at Pam's house…"

"You have a better idea?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do… I followed some Demons to town, right?... So, we go find them… Someone's gotta know something about something…"

"Pam said it was not Demonic…"

The waitress brings them their bill and sits down with them. "Sorry… I overheard your conversation… You're looking for us?..." Her eyes suddenly changing into complete black, at the same time than the bartender and the only customer at the counter. "Dean Winchester… To Hell and back… Aren't you a lucky duck?" She says in a languorous tone. "Tell me… What makes you so special, huh?"

"I don't know… Let's say I won at the big Hell's lottery of the millennium…" Dean mocks her.

"Don't play smart… Who pulled you out?"

"I don't know who pulled me out…"

"Right, you don't… Lying is a sin, you know…"

"I'm not lying…" Dean staring in the Demon's eyes to prove his statement. The waitress turns her face towards Sam to see his reaction. "But I'd like to find out… So, if you wouldn't mind enlighten me… Flo…" Dean reading from her blouse-tag.

"Mind your tone with me, Boy… Or I'll drag you back to Hell myself…" She threatens him.

"No, you won't… If you were, you'd have done it already… Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose… You're just as spooked as we are… And you're looking for answers…"

Flo recoils, her gaze becoming uncertain.

"Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit… Hum?... Or Godzilla… Or some big, bad, boss Demon… But, I'm guessing at your pay grade, that they don't tell you squat… Because, whoever it was, they want me out… And they're a lot stronger that you… So, go ahead, send me back… If you can…" Dean throws in a challenging tone.

"I'm gonna reach down your throat and rip out your lungs..." The waitress comes in a last attempt to scare the brothers.

Dean smirks, staring at her. He suddenly smacks her full face, waiting for retaliation. He gives her another blow more powerful than the first one. "That's what I thought..." He says as the Demon shows no reaction. "Let's go, Sam..." He throws some dollar bills on the table.

.

Outside, Sam bursts out. "We're not gonna leave them, are we?"

"There're three of them here and probably more in town... And what do we got?... Just a knife..." Dean calmly answers.

"I've been killing more Demons than that lately, you know..."

"Oh, really?... I thought you'd stop your crappy stuff..."

"Dean, we gotta take them... They're dangerous!..."

"No!... They're scared... Scared of whatever had the juice to yank me out... We're dealing with a bad mofo here, Sam... So, one job at the time..."

.

Back at the Astoria Motel, Dean quickly falls asleep. Sam silently sneaks out of their room. As soon as he is gone, the radio and the TV turn on by themselves, waking up Dean. He grabs his shotgun and starts to check the room when suddenly a high-pitched hum rises, shattering the glass and the mirrors in the room. He has to drop his weapon to protect his ears from the loud and unbearable noise, grunting from the pain. He finally falls on his knees, the windows and mirrors exploding all around him. Bobby rushes in, drags him out of it and quickly leave the motel before o possible arrival of the local police.

On board Bobby's car Dean calls Sam. "Hey..." Sam joyfully answers.

"What are you doing?" The elder suspiciously asks.

"Couldn't sleep... Went to get a burger..."

"In my car?"

"Force of habit... Sorry... What you doing up?"

"Well, Bobby's back... We're going to grab a beer..." Dean lies

"All right, well... Spill some for me, huh?"

"Done... I'll catch you later..." The elder hangs up.

"Why the hell didn't you tell him what happened?" Bobby asks.

"He would just try to stop us from summoning this thing... It's time we face it head on..."

"You can't be serious..."

"As a heart attack..."

"We still don't know what it is exactly... It could be anything... And it could have Eli..." Bobby worriedly says.

"So, then we gotta be ready for anything... I got the big-time magic knife..." He pulls it out of its sheath, admiring it. "And you got an arsenal in the trunk..." He shrugs.

"This is a bad idea..."

"Couldn't agree more... But, what other choice do we have?... Whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's obviously after me for a reason... That much we know, right?... Well, I got no place to hide... I can either get caught with my pants down again or we can make our stand..."

.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

In an abandoned hangar, Bobby finishes to paint some strange signs on the walls and on the floor.

"It's a Hell of an art project you got going there." Dean comments when he sees the whole place full of them.

"Traps and Talismans from every faith on the globe... How you going?"

"Stakes, iron, silver, salt. And our precious knife. We're pretty much set to catch and/or kill anything I've ever heard of."

"This is still a bad idea."

"Yeah, Bobby. I heard you the first ten times. What do you say we ring the dinner's bell?"

Bobby goes in front of the other table where a bowl filled with sulfur is ready. He spread over it another colored powder and instantly a reaction starts, a gray smoke floating around. He starts to recite a Latin text.

When Bobby has finish, they both wait for something to happen. "You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean asks. The old man looks dagger at him. "Sorry… Touchy, touchy…"

.

Suddenly, heavy winds rise; making the roof thud like it will break away from the structure or a tornado wanting to enter the hangar. The light bulbs start to explode and the entrance door, locket with a solid beam, flies open. A man in a raincoat calmly walks in. He looks to all the signs drawn on the walls and floor and softly smiles. Bobby and Dean are open fire with rock-salt at him, several times. But, it has no effect on the man still walking towards them.

"Who are you?" Dean questions, grabbing the knife.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." The man answers in a husky voice.

"Yeah… Thanks for that…" He smirks, stabbing him right in the heart.

The stranger looks at the handle deep-set in his body, grabs it and pulls it out of him like it was just a fluff on his coat. From behind, Bobby swings an iron bar at him. Without even looking, he catches it, turns around to face the old man and with the other hand, puts two fingers on his forehead, making him instantly fall unconscious. "We need to talk, Dean… Alone…" He gently says.

"Who are you?"

"Castiel."

"Yeah, I figured that much. I mean, what are you?"

"I'm an Angel of the Lord."

"Get the hell out of here… There's no such thing." Dean smiles.

"This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith." Castiel hardening his gaze. Thunder suddenly breaks out, lightning dazzling in the hangar. On the wall behind the Angel, giants wings slowly spread.

"Some angel you are… Never thought they could have a human form." Dean comments.

"My true form can be overwhelming to humans. And so can my real voice… But, you already knew that."

"You mean, the gas station, at Pamela's and at the motel?... That was you talking?"

"Yes."

"Buddy, next time, lower the volume."

"That was my mistake… Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage… I thought you would be one of them… I was wrong."

"And what 'visage' are you in now, huh?... A holy tax accountant?" Dean mocking his outfit.

"This?... This is a vessel."

"You're possessing some poor bastard?"

"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this."

"Look, pal… I'm not buying what you're selling… So, who are you really?"

"I told you."

"Right… And why would an Angel of the Lord rescue me from Hell?"

"Good things do happen, Dean… And true Love can raise mountains... God has an ear for those who truly believes."

"Yeah, right." Dean mutters in disbelieve.

"What's the matter?... You don't think you deserve to be saved?"

"Why'd you do it?"

"Because God commanded it… Because we have work for you."

.

Sam is in front of the Dinner again. He enters the now closed place, soft music still playing in a distance. It's empty, only lit by the street lamps. He slowly walks around and from a distance he distinguishes a body laying on the floor, half behind the counter. He kneels and turns the man around; the poor lad's eyes are totally burned out.

Suddenly, a shadow jumps on his back making Sam fall flat on the floor. He tries to turn around but receives several knocks in his face. He starts to swing back and the shadow backs down, giving him the opportunity to stand on his feet again. He looks at the attacker and recognizes Flo, the waitress. "Your eyes?" He comments.

"I could still smell your soul a mile away!" She shrieks.

"Who was here?.. Did you see it?" Sam

"Yeah." Flo says with a sudden fear in her voice.

"What was it?"

"It's the end!..." She sobs. "We're dead... We're all dead..."

"What did you see?" Sam insists.

"Go to Hell!" She barks.

"Funny... I was gonna say the same thing to you." Sam raises his arm in front of him and starts to concentrate. Flo directly starts to gag black smoke. She tries to fight it by putting a hand over her mouth, but the smoke continues to pour out of her. She finally falls on her knees to unconsciousness. The black smoke surrounding her over the floor in a shape of a ring of fire. Sam closes his fists and all disappeared. He profoundly exhales before opening his eyes again. He checks Flo's pulls, but unfortunately she's dead. "Damn it!" He curses.

The back door suddenly opens. "Getting pretty slick there, Sam... Better all the time..." A woman's voice comments.

_._


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

"What the Hell is going on around here, Ruby?" Sam asks, not even surprised to see her.

"I wish I knew." She sighs.

"We were thinking some high-level Demon pulled Dean out."

"No way... Sam, human souls don't just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It's cosmic! No Demon can swing that... Not Lilith... Not anybody."

"Then what can?"

"Nothing I've ever seen before. So, the million-dollar question, you gonna tell Dean about what the three of us were doing?"

"Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it and find Eli back first. Look, I just need time, okay? That's all."

"He's gonna find out… If it's not from you, he's gonna be pissed."

"He's gonna be pissed anyway. He's so hard-headed about this psychic stuff; he'll just try and stop me. I really don't know if what I'm doing is right… And Eli, it's weird... I don't feel her anymore... Is there a sort of maximal radius on that thing?"

"No, you should sense her anywhere, unless..."

"Unless, she's dead... Right?"

Ruby approaches him and rests her head on his chest. "I'm sorry, Sam. I cannot think of another possibility. Maybe there is but I'm not aware of?" She tries to comfort him.

.

Sam ends up to rejoin Dean and Bobby's at the house in Sioux Falls. Dean fills his brother in with the latest's events.

"Well, tell me what else it could have been?" Sam asks.

"All I know is I was not groped by an Angel of the Lord."

"Okay look, Dean… Why do you think this Castiel would lie to you about it?"

"Maybe he's some kind of Demon… And Demons lie."

"A Demon who's immune to salt rounds? And devil's traps? And Ruby's knife?" Bobby intervenes.

"Huh..." Dean shrugs, still in disbelieve.

"Come here and check this out." The old man pointing at a pile of books on his desk. "I got a stack of lore about Angels… Biblical, pre-Biblical… Some of it's in damn cuneiform… It all says those fellows are real and that they can snatch a soul from the pit."

"Dean, this is good news." Sam joyfully exclaims.

"How?"

"Because for once he isn't just another round of Demon crap… I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys."

"Okay… Say it's true, Angels exists… Then what? There's a God?"

"At this point, Vegas money's on 'Yes'!" Bobby answers.

"I don't know, Guys."

"Okay, look… I know you're not all choir boy about this stuff… But, this is becoming less about faith and more and more about proof."

"Proof that there's a God out there that gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it." Dean shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"Because... If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me? Why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy."

"Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs." Bobby shrugs.

"Well, that creeps me out." Dean clears his throat. "Okay…What do we know about Angels?"

Bobby grabs a pile of old books from the floor and slams them on the table. "Start reading!"

.

Later that day, Sam is going to town for some food. He spots Ruby, waiting for him at the corner of the Dinner.

"So is it true? An Angel rescued Dean?" She nervously asks.

"We're not a 100% sure yet, but I think so. Do you know some stuff about them?"

"Not much… I've never met one. And I don't really wanna. All I know is that they scare the holy hell out of me… Watch yourself, Sam." Ruby looking around on her guards. "And I wouldn't be surprised that they have Eli too."

"What makes you think that?"

"Do the math, Sam. From one day to another, she vanishes in thin air. You said it yourself you couldn't sense her."

"Hum… Maybe."

"I told you that she could fall into the wrong hands."

"And what does that make it wrong?"

"She is out of our control… She can tell them thing about us… About you, Sam!" She warns him.

.

Dean is asleep when he suddenly feels gusts of wind over his face. He groans and slowly opens his eyes. He jumps from surprise at the sight of Castiel, sitting at the edge of his bed.

"Hello Dean." The Angel says in a husky voice.

"Am I dreaming this?"

"No time for jokes. We need to talk. It has started... The first seal was broken." He explains in a mysterious way.

"What seal? What started?" Dean yawn, not fully awake yet.

"The First Seal was 'The Rising of the Witnesses'... It is a sort of mile marker. Sign that the Apocalypse is near. It comes from an ancient prophecy in the Book of revelations."

"The Apocalypse?... As in Apocalypse, the four horseman, pestilence, $5 a gallon-gas Apocalypse?" Dean leaning on his elbows.

"Yes."

"Well, leave it to God. I'm sure he can fix this with a wink of his eye!" He lays down again and closes his eyes.

"Dean, he cannot intervene in these matters." Castiel shaking his shoulder.

"Why not?" Dean sits in his bed, his arms crossed. "What is he good for if we cannot count on him in times like these? Look at the world? Genocides, monsters roaming the earth… And now the freaking Apocalypse at our door step… At what point does he lifts a finger and helps the poor bastards stuck down here, huh? "

"You blaspheme. The Lord works in..."

"If you say 'mysterious ways', so help me, I will kick your ass!" Dean cuts him.

The Angel sighs. "That's why we're here. Big things afoot. The Rising of the Witnesses is one of the 66 seals. Those seals are being broken by Lilith… You think of the seals as locks on a door. Last one opens and Lucifer walks free." He explains.

"Lucifer?… There's no such thing."

"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me. Why do you think we're here, walking among you now for the first time in 2000 years? To stop Lucifer."

"So, you lost this seal." Dean still not measuring the size of what is happening.

"There are other battles… Some we'll win, some we'll lose… This one we lost… Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in." Castiel places two fingers on Dean's forehead before disappearing in a flutter of his wings.

.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Dean is running on a lonely road, lined with trees. He stops out of breath, looking at each side of the way; no cars on the horizon. His gaze is attracted by a little light coming from inside the woods. He carefully makes for it and suddenly freezes. "Howdy, Dean... Remember me?" A man's in his sixties voices.

"Should I?" Dean asks, scrutinizing the man in front of him.

"Oh! Silly me... I changed meat-suit. Normal you can't recognize me." He smirks, changing his eyes into Yellow.

"Damn you, Azazel!" He slightly starts back. "You came back too?"

"Came back?... From where?" The Yellow-Eyed Demon is seemingly surprised.

"How did I get here anyway?" Dean looking around.

"You're here because I'm about to tell you things... About your brother and Eli... Is she still your bitch, by the way?"

"Don't call her that." He harshly says.

"Of course not... She moved on to someone more... How can I put this?..." Azazel puts a finger over his mouth and takes a deep thinking posture. "More dangerous and powerful... More like me!" He starts to laugh.

"She is not like her mother. She would never follow you... Never!... You think I don't know all your tricks and lies by now?"

"Not with me, moron... I said, more like me... Related... See what I mean?... No, of course not... You don't know yet."

"Don't know what?"

"Your brother and Eli are now..." He taps his two forefingers several times together to make him understand.

"Sam?... With Eli?... Nan!" Dean shakes his head in disbelieve.

"Do you really think that she would stay faithful to you when you were gone, huh? Please…" Azazel laughs. "Anyway, as from now, it all worked out as planned."

Dean could not bear it any longer and wants to jump on the Demon's throat. But, with a small gesture of his head, Azazel makes him fly against a tree.

"Nice try, stupid move, tho. But I admire your courage... Whatever... That is not my point."

"Yeah, what is your point?" Dean still sitting on the ground, massaging his bruised ribs.

"My point is for you to leave them alone. Sam and Eli are my chosen ones. My Super Babies nourished with Demon blood that made them big and strong. And now they are ready, at last!"

"You SOAB! Ready for what? For leading your discount Demon army?... Is that your big plan?"

"Please, my endgame is a hell of a lot bigger than that, kiddo." He says in an offended tone.

"Endgame?... What endgame?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you, now that you have those Angels sitting on your shoulder. No, no, I've covered my tracks quite well I think."

"You can cover whatever the hell you want… I will find out what you are hatching."

"Right, now that I'd like to see." Azazel sniggers. "No, you will gently do as I say. You will search for Eli and find her back. She disappeared from my radars and I don't like that. And you will bring her to Sam. The rest, they'll already know what to do."

"You go to Hell!"

Dean wakes up with a start, Castiel sitting on his side. "Did you send me in one of those dreams again? Why?"

"I gave you the truth. Well at least everything we know."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The truth about your brother and Eli."

"You know where she is?" Dean anxiously asks.

"We know what Azazel did to them. What we don't know is why? What his endgame is."

"Well he didn't tell me either." Dean looks at this brother's untouched bed. "Where is Sam?"

"Your brother is headed down a dangerous road, Dean. And he is about to drag Eli with him. It will only lead to something nasty. So, you will have to make him stop… Or we will!" Castiel warns him.

Dean looks dagger at the Angel, slowly remembering all the weird bribes of discussions he overheard between his brother and Eli before he went down in the pit. Their weird behaviors and those famous weird powers he never could finally determined.

.

Sam and Ruby are in an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere. They brought back a Demon from one of their hunts.

"Where is Eli?" Sam angrily comes.

"Don't know who you're talking about?" The Demon grins.

"Okay… Where is Lilith, then?"

"Kiss my ass!"

"I'd watch myself if I were you."

"Why, huh?... Because you're Sam Winchester, Mister big-hero desperately searching for this damsel in distress? And yet here you are slutting around with some common Demon… What a real hero!"

"Shut your mouth!" Sam raising his hand ready to smack him.

"Tell me about those months without your brother. About all the things you, your human bitch and this Demon slut did in the dark… Huh?... Tell me, hero." He provokes him.

Sam slowly raises his arm towards the Demon, instantly black smoke is pouring out of the man's body and disappearing into the floor. When it's all finished, he takes a deep breath and goes to the man, checking for a pulls and softly smiles to Ruby.

"How'd that feel?" She asks.

"Good… No more headaches either."

"None?... That's good."

Behind a small window, Dean has witness the whole scene. He suddenly enters the cabin. "So… Anything you wanna tell me about, Sam?"

"Dean… Hold on, okay?"

"You gonna say 'let me explain'? You gonna explain this? How about, why don't you start with who she really is? Yeah, I recognized her from the other motel. And what the hell is she doing here? You ditch Eli for her? Is that it?"

"Good to see you again, Dean. And no, Sam didn't ditch anyone for me. Eli left and we are trying to find her."

"Ruby?" Dean asks. "Is that Ruby?" He repeats, looking at his brother.

Suddenly, he grabs her by the collar, pushes her against the wall, taking the knife from his belt and threatening her with it.

"Don't!" Sam intervenes, pulling the blade from his brother's hand and putting Ruby behind him. "I want to explain!"

Dean pushes him away and is about to leave.

"Hold on, please... Come on, man." Sam gently grabs his brother by the sleeve.

"Do you know how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human?"

"I'm just exorcising Demons!" Sam calmly answers.

"With your mind?" Dean yells. "What else can you do?" He continues a little bit calmer.

"I can send them back to Hell. It only works with Demons and that's it."

"What else can you do?" Dean grabs him by his shirt.

"I told you." Sam getting loose from his grip.

"And I have every reason in the world to believe that." Dean crossing his arms on his chest.

"Eli started with all this! She can do it too, you know."

"Don't put her in the middle of this."

"Look, I should've said something... I'm sorry, Dean... I am."

"But, you never did... You know, I suspected this is going way longer than the last four month." The elder sadly comments.

"Try to see the other side of it."

"The other side?"

"I'm pulling Demons out of innocent people."

"Use the knife!" Dean yells.

"The knife kills the victim... What I do, most of them survive... Look, Eli and I have saved more people in the last five month than we saved in a year." Sam still trying to convince his brother that their actions are right.

"That's what that bitch wants you to think, huh?" Dean points at her, still behind his brother. "Slippery slope, bro. Just wait and see. Because it's gonna get darker and darker... And God knows where it ends."

"I'm not gonna let it go too far."

"It's already gone too far, Sam!" The elder yells.

"You were gone... And we were here... We had to keep on fighting without you. And what I'm doing... What Eli can do too... It works."

"Well, tell me... If everything was so terrific... Why did she left? And why did you lie about it to me? Why an Angel tells me to stop you?... Yeah, Castiel said that if I don't stop you, he will."

"So, he knows... How could he know about all that?" Sam frowns when his phone starts to ring. "Hello?... Huh, hey... Travis... Yeah, well... It's good to hear your voice too... Look, it's not a really good time right now... What?... Carthage, Missouri... Okay, thanks..." He hangs up. "I maybe have a lead to Eli?" He shows the little piece of paper to his brother.

.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

It the day before Halloween when the brothers are arriving in Carthage to follow the lead that Travis gave them.

Sam enters first in the motel room, he sees someone sitting on the bed. He grabs his gun from his belt and aims at the stranger. "Who are you?" He yells.

Dean enters too. "Sam! Sam! Wait! It's Castiel... The Angel." He says, lowering his brother's arm. "But, him... I don't know." He continues when he remarks a tall black guy standing in front of the window.

"Hello, Sam." Castiel rising from the bed and facing him.

"Oh my God... Huh!... I didn't mean to... Sorry... It's an honor... Really... I've heard a lot about you." Sam stutters, holding out his hand after having hid his weapon.

"And I you." The Angel accepting the handshake. "Sam Winchester... The boy with the Demon blood... Glad to hear you've ceased your special activities."

"Yeah."

"Let's keep it that way." The black man stands.

"Who's your friend?" Dean asks Castiel.

"A new seal is about to be broken. The Raising of Samhain. It has to be stopped. You need to find a witch. Kill it and the seal will be preserved." The angel explains, eluding his last question.

"Sorry, but, you will have to take care of that one on your own. We finally have a lead to find Eli. And she is more important to us than your Samhain fellow."

"Dean, you are the one that needs to find this witch. We've try, but she's cloaked even our methods. She seems to be very powerful."

"And you think that with my superpowers, I will be able to flush her out of her cave. Or whatever they call it." Dean mocks him.

"Enough!" The other man yells.

"Okay, for the last time, Castiel, who is he and why is he yelling at us like he was our boss or something?"

"This is Uriel, one of my brothers. He is what you may call a specialist."

"In what, barking orders?"

"If you don't feel capable to find and destroy this witch before the Rising of Samhain, we will have to destroy this town." Uriel blandly says.

"Waouw, waouw, waouw... What did he just said? He wants to smite a whole town full of innocent people?" Dean looks at Castiel, waiting for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, but we have our orders. You do the job or we do it our way." The Angel answers.

"You can't do this... You're Angels... I mean, aren't you supposed to show mercy?" Sam softly says.

"Says who?" Uriel chuckles.

The brothers are looking at each other already knowing they will have to change their priorities for now. Eli should have to wait for a little bit.

"All right... Tell me everything you know about that which." Dean finally concludes.

.

"That was a pretty close call." Uriel says after Sam and Dean have left the Motel.

"I think Dean starts to trust me. And I start to know how he works and how he thinks." Castiel looking through the window.

"Did the others have the chance to change her location?"

"Yes, standard protocol was been followed."

"Good. But, we have to stay vigilant. Those two mud monkeys have more brain than we thought."

"You shouldn't call them that. There's a reason we were send to save Dean. He has potential. He may succeed with this witch. And if he succeeds here, he might succeed for the rest." Castiel mysteriously says.

"You forget his brother."

"That is what I mean. Dean is our safe-wall between Sam and Eli."

.

Dean is driving to the Edward Smithsonian University where the witch is supposed to have parked her broom.

"What?" Dean asks when he sees his brother deep in his thoughts.

"Nothing... I thought they'd be different." Sam answers.

"Who? The Angels?"

"Yeah."

"I tried to warn you about them."

"It's just... I thought they'd be righteous."

"Well, they are righteous. That's kind of the problem because there's nothing more dangerous than some A-hole who things he's on a holy mission."

In the parking-lot, Sam is looking at a building in front of him. "Must be that one... Edward Bell pavilion. Let's go in and see what it looks like."

"Look at this." Sam points to a flyer pinned at the info wall of the pavilion.

"Witches, Sorcerers, Demons and Devils Exhibition. Let your imagination be your Master. Art project supervised by Mr. Wilkins. Art and History Class. Room E3/D12." Dean reads for the paper. "Let's start with this."

In front of the class, Dean approaches an ear from the door. "There's someone inside." He whispers before knocking.

"Enter!" A man's voice comes from the other end.

"Mr. Wilkins?" Sam asks. "Hum… We'd like to know if it's not too late to join the group for the Art Exhibition."

"There is always room for newcomers and especially young men." The teacher smiles. "Here, fill in these forms. And I'll see you tomorrow at 10am. The workshop is in the basement… The Door mentions 'Art Workshop'." He hands them a couple of papers, going back to the reports he was reading.

"Thanks… See you tomorrow." Sam closing the door.

"He doesn't really look like the kind of witch I pictured." Dean points out when they head to the basement.

"Maybe it's not him. Could be one of his students? Anyways, we can't wait till tomorrow."

The workshop is a huge open space with long wooden table placed here and there. Several different projects are in progress, masks, sculptures in various materials, paintings. The brothers are going around, each at one end of the room. Sam sees a kiln. He opens the heavy lid and looks inside. In the bottoms in grabs what he thinks is a burned little stick. He examines it and founds out it is a bone. "Dean? I think I have something."

His brother approaches. "What is it?"

"I think it is a carbonized human bone."

"So small?"

"That's what it makes it interesting; in our case, anyway. It's a baby human bone. And we all know that…"

"Lore about witches are talking about using human bones in certain magic spells." Dean finished the sentence.

"Exactly!"

"Okay, but… It still doesn't give us the identity of the ugly bitch."

"I need my computer." Sam says, going for the door.

.

Back at their motel room, Sam breaks in the University website and looks for the Students and Teachers database. "There we go." He says after a few minutes. "There are 8 students that are following Mr. Wilkins' Art Project, two guys and six girls." He writes the list of names on a paper.

"Do they have pictures of the girls? Let me see." Dean asks, coming in front of the screen.

"Dean." He warns him.

"Sorry… So, what are you gonna do with those names." The elder goes back lazing with a magazine on the bed.

"Get them through the FBI database."

"What would that be good at? You think witches have records?"

"Nope… But, we'll see if there is anything strange about one of the students." He continues to type frantically on his laptop. "And we have a winner!" He joyfully calls after a few minutes. "Belinda Simons does not seem to have a life before 2004… No birth records, no parent's name… And she arrived freshly from… Hum… Nowhere… Her whole University file is a total fake."

"Nice job, Mr. Wisenoze!" Dean exclaims with a little laugh. "Does she have an address?"

.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The night is about to fall on Carthage when the brothers arrive in front of Belinda's apartment. They had forgotten it was Halloween. The street is full with dressed-up kids and teenagers' holding for some of them a bucket for their candy treats. They look up and see there is some light coming from her bedroom window. In front of her place, there is a closed business building. They decide to find a window that faces her apartment to have a peek on her occupations.

Dean looks through the binoculars he brought. "She is with her back to the window, in front of a desk… I can't see what she is doing." He reports to Sam.

"She sits or she stands?"

"Standing."

Sam grabs the binoculars from Dean's hands and looks himself at the scene. "Hum..." He growls. "We need to get closer. She has a balcony. Let's climb up there." He proposes.

"The balcony is full front on the street. Anybody passing would spot us in a minute and call the cops." The elder reasons with him, showing him the bustling street.

"Okay. What are we doing then? Staying here?"

"Yep, that's exactly what we are going to do. Sammy, think for a minute. How many chances are there that she will raise a big, bad Demon from her tiny little studio, in full light, with open curtains and all those people around, huh?"

"Lights out!... She's going out." Sam suddenly warns.

The brothers are rushing down the stairs of the office's building and arrive just in time at the front door to see Belinda going along the street on her left by foot. They are discreetly following her, hiding behind carriage doors or basement stairs. She seems to going out of the city center. Little by little, they don't have many places left to find cover. Dean silently points at a signpost saying 'To Graveyard'. They decided to take the risk that she might go there. So, they wait till she's out of sight, before continuing their way.

.

In front of the heavy iron portal, they see it's ajar. They squeeze in-between the two gates and look around to try to spot Belinda. Dean points at the right to Sam and to the left for himself, he makes a round movement with his arm to explain that they will gather at the end of the graveyard.

Dean, after a few minutes' walk between the gravestones, sees some faint light coming from a cellar window of a vault. He carefully gets down the three steps that lead inside of it, grabbing his handgun from his inside pocket and trying to cocks it as silently as possible. From what he can see, this vault is way bigger in surface than the little construction he discovered outside. There is a sort of little spiral staircase going down a level. Downstairs, there are some lit candles – certainly the light he saw from the cellar window – a stone table, a chalice, a knife and a body laying next to it. He kneels and recognizes Belinda. He checks for a pulls, but find none. "Damn!" He whispers.

Going back to the exit, he sees blood drops on the floor going the same way and starts to follow them. But once on the ground full with leaves and branches, he rapidly lost track of it. He decides to rejoin his brother that certainly must be already at the meeting point.

Arrived at the end of the graveyard, Sam is not there. He follows the way that he would have taken and hears some shuffling noises and some panting coming from the Crematorium Hall. Once inside, he freezes in front of the scene. Sam, his arm straight in front of him, his whole body trembling, is trying to push away Mr. Wilkins, the professor that obviously became Samhein, according to the strange electric blue glow that comes out of his eyes. The Demon tries to approach, pushing hard against that invisible force. The confrontation seems to last forever when suddenly; the young man lets out a huge inhuman scream and Samhein's black smoke finally pours out of Mr. Wilkins' body, slowly falling on the stoned floor. Sam kneels, trying to find his breath again, when he slowly turns around to face Dean.

"I'm sorry... I had to... It was the only way to preserve the seal." He says with an apologetic tone.

Dean just turns around and leaves.

.

Dean enters a park and sits on the first bench he finds. He wants to close his eyes for a minute, leaning his head against the back and just forgetting what he just witnessed. Breaking the silence of the night, a flutter of wings brings him back to reality. "Castiel let me guess… You're here for the 'I told you so'."

"No." The Angel softly answers.

"Well good because I'm really not in the mood for a lecture."

"I'm not here to judge you, nor your brother, Dean."

"But, he broke his promise. He used his powers again." He sighs. "Well, at least, we saved the seal, right?"

"Sorry to be the bad news messenger. Even though your brother stopped Samhain, unfortunately, the seal was broken. The Witch brought back Samhain and he rose... Making us one step closer to Hell on earth for all creation."

"Huh! We did all this for nothing. And we probably lost our chance to find Eli too now. Thanks to you and your friend Uriel!"

"You did a good thing here, Dean. You placed a higher priority in saving a whole town than finding one friend. It's a very charitable act."

"Yeah… And also discover I cannot trust my own brother anymore! What a comfort!"

"I'm really sorry, Dean, but, in the coming months, there will be more difficult decisions to make. I don't envy the weight that's on your shoulders. I truly don't." Castiel disappears as discreetly as he appeared.

.

In the morning, with no much hope, the brothers are nevertheless checking at the address where Eli was supposed to be. An old lady opens the door and after Dean has show her a picture, she tells them that the young woman had left two days ago – The day they arrive in town – with a very gently young man. Unfortunately, she didn't let any new address, telling the old lady that she didn't know her new one yet, but that she will send her a note as soon as she had.

The boys are thanking her for the info, disappointed to have missed her by so little.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Sam asks when they go back to their car.

"And who was that 'gentle young man' with Eli?" Dean speaks with an ironic tone.

"I don't know, Dean. Let's find a place to grab something to eat; I'll check my radars on my laptop. Never know we could spot any new lead." He gently says.

.

Dean engulfs his sixth shot of Whiskey. Sam gives him a worried look.

"What?" The elder asks, drinking another shot.

"Well…" He points at the seven empty glasses in front of his brother.

"I need a pick-me-up."

"Why? Anything you wanna talk about?"

"No, everything is joyfully fine!"

Sam sighs. "Dean… Since you came back, you seemed to be different."

"Like you seemed to be quite different too."

"I don't want to pick a fight here. I just made some thinking. Are you remembering anything from your time down under?"

"No! Nothing!"

"Are you sure?"

"Sam, I don't have a frigging clue what I did or what happened during those four months. Will you please stop asking stupid questions?"

"Dean, I just wanna help."

"You know everything I do… That's all there is… And if you really wanna help me."

"Yeah, I know… Find Eli."

"Exactly! How could she possibly disappear like that? I have the feeling she is even running away from us? Why? We already know she's fine, but with all the ways we have and tricks we know, we should have at least a hint, a trace… You know, something… All right, where do we go from here?"

"Not sure. Looks like it's been pretty quiet lately. No signs of Demon activity, no omens or portents I can see, just the usual smothering of crank UFO sightings." Sam explains, grabbing his laptop from his bag and putting it on the table. "And one possible vengeful spirit… Here, check this out." He turns the devise.

"This doesn't make any a lick of sense."

"Well like Bobby told you, she might have just retiring from all this." Sam shrugs.

"Oh come on! I don't believe this a single minute! We know her, Sam… She has it in her bones. She lived it through her entire life… Like us… And why are you not feeling anything? Aren't you suppose to be connected or something?"

"How do you know about that?" He exclaims. "Oh, whatever… But no, it's true. No trills, no shivers, no nothing… And that make me think that if it is not a Demon that holds her… Then who do?"

"So, you're pretty sure someone or something holds her against her will."

"After all we've already done… I don't see any other explanation."

Dean throws some bills on the table and they leave the restaurant.

.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

"Anna, do you know where you are? You are at the Connors Beverly Behavioral Medicine Center." A woman's voice softly speaks. The young woman, sitting in front of her on her bed is looking at her wrist, discovering a white plastic wristband from the hospital. "Do you know why you're here?"

Anna shrugs.

"Do you remember what you did? You were hysterical. It took four people to restrain you."

"I was trying to make them understand…" The young woman whispers.

"Understand what?"

"That I am not Anna."

"What is your real name then?"

She stays silent for a moment. "I don't remember…"

"What is the last thing you remember before the seizure?"

"I was in my room, reading. I must have fall asleep… I think… And when I woke up, I was here."

"Who is Dean?"

"Dean? I don't know…" Anna slowly goes nervous.

"You were calling him, asking to warn him about something. What was the thing you wanted to warn him about?"

"Forget it!" She sighs. "It was stupid."

"Please tell me."

"Look, I get it! You think I'm nuts… If I were you, I'd think I was nuts too."

"It's okay… You can tell me. I'm here to listen."

"I hear them talking. The Angels."

"Angels?... Voices, you mean."

"Whatever."

"And what are those voices talking about?"

"The Apocalypse."

"The Apocalypse, like in the Bible?"

"Kind of… I mean, same bottom line… This Demon, Lilith is trying to break the 66 seals to free Lucifer from Hell… And he will bring the Apocalypse on earth… The end is near… And I have Demon blood in me. But, I may not use my powers anymore." Anna suddenly starts to talk frantically, jumping off her bed and pacing around the room.

"Anna! Anna, calm down!"

"Who's Anna? My name is Eli." She looks dagger at the shrink. "Dean is back from Hell. The Angels saved him. And Castiel erased my memory… But, it failed…" She hysterically laughs. "And, I know now… Sam will come for me, to get me back... I remember everything… Everything!" She goes suddenly wild. The doctor decides to call the nurse to give her a mild sedative. As soon as she gets the shoot, she instantly stops talking, looking through the window next to her bed, her gaze far away.

"Anna? So, you were saying that there are 66 of these seals in the world?"

"No, no… There are 666 possible seals." She whispers again. "And Lilith only has to break 66 of them. And no one knows which 66 she's gonna break."

"I see."

"That's why it's nearly impossible to stop her. And that's why the Angels are losing… That's why we're all gonna die!"

"Anna, that will be it for today's session. Try to rest now. We'll talk again tomorrow." The psychiatrist gently putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder.

.

A nurse's aide enters Anna's room, holding a little tray with a small cup and a glass of water. "Time for your meds, Anna." He gently says. She is busy to draw and write in a notebook on her bed, her back against him. "Anna?" He calls again. She slowly turns around and spooks, letting out a small scream. "What's the matter, Sweetie?"

"Your face! What happened to your face?" She backs off in the corner of the room.

"I know." He answers, changing his eyes into complete black. "Chh… Chh… Calm down." He locks the door.

Anna starts to focus on the iron chest that is against the wall, near the man. The furniture slowly starts to shake and suddenly glides with speed, crushing him against the door, knocking him out. She rushes to the door, pushing aside the laying man to open it. After a quick look in the hallway, she runs away.

.

The brothers are drinking a bear in a sports-bar, watching a baseball match on a giant screen in front of them. Sam looks aside and sees Ruby sitting at the counter. Without a word, he leaves their table to rejoin her. Dean distractedly follows him with one eye, till he spots the Demon.

"Hey..." Sam softly says to her.

"Well you got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere near me!" Dean just behind his brother.

"I just have some info and then I'm gone."

"What is it?" Sam asks

"I'm hearing a few whispers... A girl named 'Anna Milton' escaped from a locked ward yesterday. The Demons seem pretty keen on finding her. It could be her, since the word says to keep her alive." Ruby explains

"What makes you think it's Eli?" Dean harshly asks.

"That's the interesting part. I made some research and I couldn't find a single picture of her anywhere. Plus that she only seems to have a life that started… A week ago!"

"What do you mean 'a week ago'?"

"I started with her school records. The easiest to find without leaving a trace. She has none."

"This hospital that Anna escaped from... Got a name?" Sam requests.

.

"Yes, hello. I was looking for a Missing Persons Report for Anna Milton. Disappeared from the Connors Beverly Behavioral Medicine Center." Sam on the phone while Dean is driving. "Oh, you're sure? Okay... Sorry… My mistake… Thanks anyway." He hangs up. "Weird… There is no MPR under the name Anna Milton."

"Means Ruby told us bullshit! Let's drop it. This hospital's a three-day drive."

"No, we have to be sure. We cannot let a lead passing us by... And we drove further for less, Dean... So, if you got something to say, say it!"

"I'm saying it. This sucks!"

"You're not pissed after the girl... You're pissed because Ruby threw us the tip!"

"Right, cause as far as you're concerned, the Hell bitch is practically family. Something major must have happened while I was downstairs. Because, I come back and you're BFF with a Demon."

"I told you, Dean, she helped me go after Lilith."

Dean stays silent for a long moment.

.

At the hospital, Sam and Dean, dressed in their best suits, interrogate the psychiatrist that handled Anna's case.

"The orderly has no recollection of Anna's escape?" Sam asks, taking notes with the info she is giving him.

"Apparently, she knocked him unconscious. The blow caused some amnesia. He doesn't even remember coming into her room."

"That's a hell of a right hook to knock out a guy with eighty pounds on her." Dean intervenes.

"We think she may have planned this, waiting behind the door." The doctor smiles.

"You mentioned Anna's illness was recent. Approximately a month ago, she was happy, lots of friends, bright future. So, what happened? She just flipped?" Sam goes back on talking.

"Well, that's the tragedy of schizophrenia. Within days, Anna was overtaken by delusions."

"What kind of delusions?"

"See thought Demon were everywhere. Angels talking to her."

"Huh, interesting!" Dean exclaims in an ironic tone.

"It is not uncommon for our patients to believe that monsters are real."

"Could it be possible to leaf through her medical records? See if we could find some information where she might been hiding?" Sam requests.

"Well, we tried to find her family's doctor, since it was the first time we treated her. We could find any. We also tried to contact her parents without success. So, the only record we have is our own file. And the only thing she left behind was this notebook." The doctor hands it to Sam.

Sam leafs through the book. There are drawings of a rose window and a church, some text written erratically over a page. A few pages further, he recognizes the Impala, drawn with an ink pen. He continues to go through it and a whole page is full with 'The rising of the Witnesses' written in different types of handwritings. The next mentions 'Samhain is the next broken seal'. He shows all this to Dean.

"Anna, in one of the sessions, told me that she was convinced the Devil was about to rise up and end the world was near. She was talking about Apocalypse, Angels, Demons, Lucifer. The most disturbing was her multiple personality disorder. Sometimes, she was calling herself by another name. And the second later, she didn't know who that was. I really hope you find her. It's dangerous for her to be out there alone right now." The shrink explains.

Back in the car, Sam shows Dean another one of Anna's drawings.

"What the…?" The elder exclaims when he recognizes the two faces on the page. "That's us… How could this girl Anna know about us…"

"Unless, it's not Anna…" Sam leaving his sentence in abeyance.

.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

The brothers decide to go to the Milton's house. Dean knocks loudly at the front door. "Maybe they're not home."

"Both cars are in the driveway."

Dean tries the door knob and founds it unlocked. He slowly opens it. "Mr and Mrs. Milton?" He calls.

"We're from the Sheriff's department. We just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your daughter." Sam enters the living room while Dean is checking the second floor.

Once in the middle of the room, he kneels and with the tip of his finger wipes a yellow trace from the floor. He sniffs it. "Dean!" He calls.

"What?"

"I found sulfur on the floor. Seems the Demons beat us here."

"And I found nothing upstairs." Dean says when he rejoins his brother.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… There is furniture, but nothing in them." He goes for the kitchen and look in the fridge. "That's what I thought." He shows a carton with left-over Chinese food. "No one really lives here. It's just a facade."

Sam continues his traveling around the place and stopped in front of the mantelpiece where picture frames are lined up. He suddenly grabs one of them. "Dean! I think you need to see this!" Sam hands the frame to his brother.

On the picture, he sees Eli surrounded by a couple in front of a church. "What the Hell? We need to find her, man!" He stutters.

"Yeah, I know. Let me see those sketches from the notebook. Check this out, she was drawing the window of the church, over and over. That must mean something for her."

.

Dean parks the car in front of the shrine. Before entering, they check their weapons, not knowing who or what to expect once inside. They're slowly going up the stairs from the main tower, leading in a wide room under the one of the bell towers.

"Dean!" Sam whispers, pointing at the far end corner of the place. They see a shadow hiding behind a stained glass window-panel. He hides his weapon behind his back.

"Eli? It's us. You can come out of there." Dean gently calls.

"Anna?" Sam tries, as she does not come out. "We're not gonna hurt you. We're here to help. My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean."

"Sam?" A young woman's voice shyly asks. "Sam Winchester?"

"Hum… Yeah."

The shadow finally comes out from her hiding place. "And you're Dean?" She points at him.

"Yes, it's me! Eli, please what's going on?" He says, his voice full of emotion.

"No, I'm Anna. Anna Milton."

"Come on, you can stop pretending now. We've finally found you. We're gonna bring you home. Bobby is worried sick about you." He approaches her, but she backs down.

"Dean, wait. If what the shrink said is true, she must be in a sort of double personality seizure. Better call her Anna, till we know exactly what happened to her." Sam whispers.

"The Angels talk a lot about you. You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out. And some of them think you can help save us. And some of them don't like you at all. They talk about you all the time lately. I feel like I already know you."

"So, you talk to Angels?" Dean gently asks.

"Oh, no, no. They probably don't even know I exist. I just kind of overhear them."

"You overhear them?"

"Yeah, they talk and sometimes I just… Hear them in my head."

"Anna, when did the voices start? Do you remember?" Sam asks her.

"I can tell you exactly, September 18th."

"The day I got out of hell." Dean comments.

"First words I heard, clear as a bell: Dean Winchester is saved."

"Well, at least now we know why the Demons want her so bad. They get a hold of you and they can hear everything the other side's cooking. It's like having a direct line to 1-900-ANGEL!" Dean smiles, making her smile too.

They suddenly hear the door slamming open. "You got her? Good, let's go." Ruby says out of breath. "We have to hurry." She adds when no one moved.

"Why?" Dean asks.

"Because a Demon's coming… Big-timer… We can fight later, Dean."

"That's pretty convenient. Showing up right when we find the girl with some bigwig on our tail."

"I didn't bring him here. You did! He followed you from the house. We gotta go now!" Ruby hurries them along.

"Dean." Sam softly calls, pointing at a statue of the Virgin Mary starting to pour blood tears from her eyes.

"It's too late, he's here already." Ruby slightly in panic.

"Come with me." Sam grabs Anna's arm and leads her at the other side of the room, in a closed. "Okay, you stay in here and you don't move." He orders her. He then takes a flask of Holy Water out of his inner pocket. "No, Sam. You gotta pull him right away." Ruby says.

"Oh! Hold on a second."

"Dean, now's not the time to bellyache about Sam gong dark-side. He exorcises that Demon his way or we all die."

Sam stands in front of the door and waits for the Demon to show up. Loud heavy steps resound in the staircase and suddenly the door flies open. A man in a dark suit approaches. Sam raises his arm and starts to concentrate. The man changes his eyes into total translucent white and just coughs. "That tickles!" He grins. "You don't have the juice to take me on, Sam. Well, not you alone anyway." He makes a move with his hand, making Sam fly down the stairs.

Dean grabs the knife and gets set to strike while the Demon has his back towards him. But, just when he wants to stab, the Demon grabs his arm with one hand and pulls him closer with the other one. "Nice to see you again, Dean." He viciously says. He pushes him against a beam and they start to struggle.

In the mean time, Ruby rejoins Anna, who starts to scream. "Keep it down and focus… You have to help Sam!"

"How? I don't know how to fight."

"Yes, you know, Eli! Come on, focus!" Ruby barks.

"My name is not Eli!" Anna yells back.

"Don't make me get mad at you, Eli!"

With the Demon's punching Dean with regularity, Dean finishes by dropping the knife. "Come on, Dean. Don't you recognize me, huh?" He poses. "Oh, silly me, I'm wearing a pediatrician today." He says before continuing to beat him up. "But, we were so close… In Hell!"

"Alastair!" Dean finally whispers.

The Demon is ready to give him the final blow when Sam arrives from behind and stabs him in his heart. "You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that, son." He grabs the knife and tries to get it out of him, when suddenly Eli moves forward in the room, closing her eyes and both fists in front of her. The Demon instantly freezes, impossible for him to move an inch. "You won't win this!" He snarls.

"Get out of here, now! I'll take care of her!" Ruby yells at the brothers.

Both look at the rose-window in front of them and then at each other. Just when Ruby pushes Eli out of the room and the Demon pulls out the knife, they both jump through it. Alastair comes near the window, proudly showing the knife that is now in his possession.

.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

In their motel room, Sam is self stitching the gash on his arm he made when jumping out of the window. He grunts from the pain each time he passes the needle in his flesh.

"Are you almost done?" Dean calls from the bathroom, looking at his bruised face in the mirror.

"Going as fast as I can." Sam answers, making another suture through the cut.

"Because you know, I've got a dislocated shoulder over here."

"Yeah! I'll pop it back when I'm finished." Sam makes a last knot and cuts the rest of the thread.

Dean, back in the main room, drinks long gulps from a bottle of red wine.

"Give me that!" Sam asks. He pours some liquor over his wounds, making him grunt again.

"So, you lost the magic knife?" Dean comments.

"Yeah, saving your ass. Who the Hell was that Demon?"

"No one good. We gotta rejoin Eli, so hurry up!"

"Ruby's got her. I'm sure she's okay."

"I'm not that sure."

"Dean!" Sam sighs.

"Shoulder?"

"All right, come here." He goes up from the bed and places himself behind his brother. "On three…" He places a hand over his shoulder blade and grabs Dean's wrist with the other. The elder prepares himself mentally for the forthcoming pain. "One…" Sam says, but directly snaps the shoulder in place, making his brother scream unexpectedly.

Dean takes an ice pack out of the freezer and puts it on his sore shoulder. "You're sure about Ruby? Because, I think it's just as likely she used us to find Eli and brought that Demon to kill us."

"No, she took Eli to keep her safe."

"Yeah. Then why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?"

"Because that Demon is probably watching us right now. Waiting to follow us right back to Eli again. That's why he let us go."

"You call this letting us go?" Dean softly laughs.

"Yeah, I do… Look, killing us would have been no problem to that thing. That's why for now, we gotta stay low. And wait for Ruby to contact us. I made some thinking and I'm more and more convinced that Demons have nothing to do with Eli's state."

"What made to come to that?"

"Even now that we found her, I still cannot sense her like I used to. I know, you don't like our crappy stuff, but it came out handy sometimes. It's like something or someone put a protective shield around her. It's really weird."

"So, if it's not the Demons… You think the Angels have something to do with it?"

"Most probably. How can you explain otherwise the fact that she hears them talking?"

"Hum… It's a good theory." He sits down in front of Sam. "There is still something that is bothering me. And I think I deserve a straight answer now. Why do you trust Ruby so much?"

"I told you."

"You gotta do better than that. Hey, I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I mean, I really want to understand. But, I need to know more. Whatever the story is."

"All right. But don't complain afterwards... Ruby saved my life." Sam takes a deep breath. "After you were taken down, I had a hard time dealing with it. I was a total mess. And Eli, she was dealing with her own grief and wasn't in the state to help me or me helping her. We were freewheeling from town to town, flushing out every Demon we could and having no mercy for any of them. Till Ruby showed up at our door one day. In a brand new recycled body, as she put it. A coma girl." He lightly smiles. "She put us back on track. Helping us to canalize our wrath. Our thirst for retaliation. Using our powers the right way, if there is one. Saving the victims instead of savagely killing them. Proving us that, with training, the both of us together could gank Lilith easy."

"So far, all you told me about is a manipulative bitch who screwed you, played mind games with you. And did everything in the book to get you two go bad." Dean comments.

"Yeah well, there's more to the story. One day, we were tailing a second-rate Demon; supposedly one of Lilith's soldiers. We found an abandoned house, aside from town. Eli was out to get us some food supply to keep low for a few days. I was still doubtful that we ever could grab Lilith. Ruby and I started to discuss this and quickly turned into an argument. I told her one thing, she told me another. And before we realized it, we were laying on the floor, tearing down our clothes." Sam looks at his brother reaction.

"All right!... Skip the nudity, please." Dean just says.

"We were done before Eli got back. But, I guess she must have felt something. She started to act differently since that day. I tried to talk with her, but she did like she knew nothing. We had more and more quarrels about little things, tho. And then after the nth time, she decided to leave."

"Something in your story must have escaped me, Sammy. Okay, you and Ruby had a wild one. That doesn't explain why Eli had that sudden change in her behavior towards you?" Dean asks.

Sam sighs.

"What there is still more? Okay, what else could you probably add than you haven't already told me?" Dean asks, taking a deep breath.

"Well, that's gonna be the hardest part to tell you, I guess." Sam clears his throat. "Because, if Eli decided to leave after… Well, the thing with Ruby… It's because there was a precedent… I… We… You have to understand, Dean… We were so lost when you were gone. Eli and I clung on to each other with that tiny hope we could find a way to bring you back. That created a sort of special bounding, an intimacy. Even if we didn't show in the open… And then… One night, I heard her crying in her bed. I crawled up in her bed to comfort her… And one thing leading to another, we…"

"Stop right there! I think I got the picture!" Dean nervously comes.

"Dean, you were dead."

"I said, I got it!" He frowns.

"All right. But, from that night, she… We had crossed a line, we both knew it. And when she discovered that Ruby and I had… You know… Eli must have thought that we would leave her behind. She totally closed herself up on us. I should have talk about it with her, put our records straight. But, instead of that, I just let things go, like nothing happened at all… And with both of them… I know I have no excuse for all that… And I'm still blaming myself for it."

"I know it was hard to handle all this, for the both of you. I'm trying to put myself in your shoes. And honestly, I don't know how I would have reacted… Hum… Maybe not the Ruby part of it, tho!" He softly smiles to Sam.

"I'm glad that we could talk openly like that. One thing I noticed since you came back, you've changed."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Sam laughs.

Suddenly, there are some knocks on their room door. "House Keeping!" A woman's voice calls.

"Not now." Dean yells.

"Sir, I got clean towels." The woman insists.

The elder reluctantly stands up and goes checking at the door. "Couldn't you just leave them at the door?" He says to the black woman in front of him.

Bluntly, she pushes him inside and closes the door and the curtains, under the amazed eye of the two brothers. "I'm at this address." She says, handing a piece of paper to Sam.

"I'm sorry? What?"

"Go now… Go through the bathroom window. Don't stop and don't take your car. There are Demons in the hallway and in the parking lot. Watching your every move."

"Ruby?" Sam

"Okay, yeah!... I'm possessing this maid for a hot minute! Sue me!" She says, putting her fists on each side of her waist.

"What about?"

"My coma girl's body? Rotting on the floor at the cabin with Eli. So, I've gotta hurry back. See you when you get there. Go!" The maid chasing them away before leaving the room.

.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

"Sam and Dean are convinced that I am that other person… Eli… Do you know her too?" Eli, in her Anna phase, asks Ruby.

"Yes… I know her… And it's strange to say that, since I see you sitting just in front of my eyes."

"Do you know what happened to me? Or her, I mean? It is a little bit confusing." She lightly laughs.

"Not really. But, I won't be surprised that those Angels have something to do with your memory loss."

"Why would Angels do such a thing as changing a person into somebody else? For what purpose?"

"I wish I could answer that… But, one thing is true. You are Eli and we're friends."

"Really? How did we met?"

"Chhh!" Ruby suddenly whispers, making a gesture to Eli to stay put. The brothers are taking every possible precaution to make it to the cabin. When they're finally near it, the door flies open. "Glad you could make it!" Ruby says relieved to see them.

"Are you all right?" Dean asks Eli when he sees her huddled up on the bench.

"Yeah, thanks." She softly answers.

He turns around to Ruby. "Hum… Ruby… Sam told me about certain things and… I guess… I guess I owe you for Sam… And I just wanna… You know?"

"Don't strain yourself." Ruby smirks.

"Okay then… Is the moment over?... Good, because that was awkward!"

Suddenly, Eli freezes, grabbing Sam's arm. "They're coming!" She whispers.

"Back room!" Dean orders and accompanies her to be sure she will be safe in there. He grabs their duffel and starts to takes some weapons, handing them over to Sam.

Ruby also rummages in the bag. "Where's the knife?..."

"Heu… About that." Dean starts.

"You're kidding!" She answers, when she understands they have lost it.

"Hey, don't look at me!" He stares at this brother.

"Oh, thanks a lot!" Sam

"Great! Just peachy! Impeccable timing, guys! Really!"

They hear some screeching noises coming from the back door and heavy gusts of wind hammering on it. Till all at once, it flies open, letting Castiel and Uriel enter.

"Please, tell me you're here to help. We've been having Demon issues all day!" Dean tells them as welcome speech.

"I can see that." Uriel says unruffled. "You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?" He continues looking at Ruby.

"We're here for Eli." Castiel says.

"Here for her, like 'here for her'?" Dean questions in order to be sure.

"Stop talking! Give her to us!" Uriel orders.

"Why do you want her?" Sam intervenes.

"She has to die!"

"Excuse me? Okay, I knew she's wiretapping your Angel chats or whatever. But, it's no reason to gank her." Dean says with a angry tone.

"Don't worry, I'll kill her gentle." Uriel grins.

"She doesn't deserve to die! What did you do to her, by the way?" Sam intervenes.

"She is far from innocent and you know why, Dean!" Castiel calmly talks.

"What's that suppose to mean?" The elder comes.

"It means that, all in all, she's worse than this abomination your brother's been screwing! Now, give us Eli!"

Dean and Sam are looking at each other. "Sorry. Get yourself another one! Try On-line-dating dot com." Dean smirks.

"Who's gonna stop us? You two? Or this Demon whore?" Uriel grabs Ruby by the collar and throws her through a closed window. She falls hard on the floor. Uriel grabs her again, raising a hand towards her face. Dean wants to knock him out from behind, but Uriel stops him, obliging to let Ruby loose. The Angel twists his wrist with one hand and punches him with the other.

At the same time, Castiel approaches Sam. "Cas… Please… Stop!..." He touches Sam with two fingers on his forehead and he collapses instantly. He goes for the backroom, when suddenly a blinding while light surrounds the whole cabin and in a slip of a second both Angels vanish.

"What the…?" Dean panting and standing up with difficulty. He helps Ruby to stand on her feet again. Sam also wakes up. Dean goes checking for Eli in the other room. She has blood on her hands and she's shaking. "Eli?" He looks at her arm where she made herself a deep cut.

"Are they gone?" She asks with a trembling voice.

"Did you killed them?" Dean requests while he bandages her wound.

"No, I send them away."

Dean looks at the mirror in front of him and discovers a strange drawing that she made with her own blood. "You want to tell me how?"

"That just popped in my head… I don't know how I did it… I just did."

Dean takes Sam aside. "What do you think?"

"That Anna/Eli bond's getting more and more interesting by the second. I really wish to know what exactly they did to her." Thy youngest wonders.

"Yeah, me too. And what did they mean by she's not innocent?"

"It seems they want her bad, not just because of the Angel Radio thing. I mean, that blood spell she made? It's some serious crap, man"

"Something's going on with her. See what you can find."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Eli may have sent the Angels to the outfield, but sooner or later they're gonna be back. I gonna bring her somewhere safe."

.

Dean has the idea to put Eli in Bobby's panic room the old man has build in the basement of the house.

"Where are you taking me?" Eli requests when they are in the car.

"I'm bringing you back to your…" He looks at her and remembers that in her head, she's still Anna. "To a very good friend of mine. That reminds me that I need to call him to tell him we're coming." He grabs his phone from his jeans pocket. "Yeah, Bobby… It's me… We found her… Yes… She's fine… Only… Well, don't jump on her when we arrive… There are some little changes in her… Yeah, don't worry… I'll explain everything."

When he hears the roar of the Impala, Bobby rushes out of his house to welcome them.

"Hi, Bobby. This is Anna." Dean says when the young woman shyly comes out of the vehicle.

"Anna?"

"Yeah, you know. Anna? The girl I told you about." He insists, widening his eyes to make Bobby do as it was the first time he saw her.

"Oh, yeah. Welcome Anna. You are in a safe place here." The old man gently comes.

"Thank you." Eli answers, looking at the house and the scrap yard, like she sees it for the first time.

"Come on in."

.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Dean bounces several times a hand against the wall of the safe room to prove that she'll be safe in here. "Iron walls drenched in salt. Demons can't even touch the joint!" He gently smiles. "Here, Ruby gave us this for protection." He hands her one of the hex-bags he has in his hands and puts the other in his pocket. "That will hide us from Angels, Demons and all comers. Don't lose it. So, Eli... Sorry, Anna… What's going on Angel Radio? Anything useful?"

"It's quiet. Dead silence."

Dean tenderly looks at her. "Good… That's not troubling at all." He says, clearing his throat.

"We're in trouble, huh? You guys are scared?"

"No." He brags.

"Hey, Dean?" Bobby calls from up the stairs.

"You stay here, okay? I've to talk with Bobby for a minute." He puts a comforting hand on hers.

"Will you finally explain what is happening to my daughter?" Bobby asks when Dean comes up the stairs.

"We don't know exactly what happened yet. Just that she has a sort of memory loss and thinks she is that Anna Milton. Once thing we are practically sure off is that the Angels are behind it."

"Well, I've found a radical way to find out right now."

.

Bobby decides to try a hypnosis seance added to an ancient spell he found in one of his books about Angels. He is convinced that it could give Eli her memory back or at least explain what happened to her since she left Sam.

He asks her to drink a mixture he prepared from a recipe in the book and lay her down on the bunk.

"I'm going to recite a text. You will have to listen to it very carefully while you are slowly drifting into sleep and repeat every sentence after me. All right?"

"Hum, hum." She mumbles.

He starts to recite the text, making her repeat each word. "Now, you are nice and relaxed." He softly says with a low voice. "I'm going to count down from five to zero… When we're at zero, you'll be in a deep sleep." Dean is sitting next to her on the bed, gently holding her hand. "As I count down, you just go deeper and deeper, okay?... 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Deep sleep… Every muscle, calm and relaxed. Can you hear me, pumpkin?"

"Yes, I can hear you." She whispers.

"Now, tell me… How can you hear the Angels?"

"I don't know… It just came to me one day."

"Did you already meet an Angel?"

"No, that is so silly." She softly laughs.

Bobby takes a deep breath. "But you saw them in the cabin?"

"No, I was hiding in a back room."

"How did you work that spell in that cabin?"

"I don't know… It popped up in my head."

"Do you know your father's name?" Bobby raising his arm towards Dean that was about to talk.

"Rich Milton."

"All right… But, I want you to look further back when you were a younger girl."

"I don't remember. Don't make me remember!" She seems to suddenly be afraid of something.

"Easy. You are in a safe place. Nobody can hurt you."

She calms down a little.

"Try to remember two months ago. Where were you?"

"In a motel room."

"What were you doing in that motel room? Was there someone with you?"

She softly moans.

"What is your name?"

"Anna… Anna Milton."

"It's not working." Dean whispers.

"What is your name?" Bobby raising his voice.

"No… No…" She squeezes Dean's hand.

"Do you want me to go mad at you, Elizabeth?"

"I can't… He does not want me to remember."

"Who? Who does not want you to remember?"

"The Angel… The Angel that came to me… He said that if I was not following the rules, Dean would not come back from Hell!"

"Castiel came to you?"

"Yes. Castiel, the Angel."

"When did he come to you?"

"I left the motel. I was so mad at Sam. I took a bus. I wanted to go home. I just wanted to go home." She sobs, tears running down her face.

"What happened next?"

"This man came sitting next to me in the bus and we started to talk. He knew exactly who I was, what I did. He told me about Dean in Hell. We got down at the next stop. He explained how he could get Dean out of Hell. That he had a way to do so. But, that I would have to do something for him."

"What think did you have to do?"

"I had to stay away. To leave everything and everyone and never come back. I would not be allowed to see you ever again."

"You did this for me?" Dean softly says.

"Hush!" Bobby orders him.

"He said that he would help me to clean my soul of the Demon blood and that I would live a normal life. Elsewhere. But…"

"But what?"

"I don't know what happened next. Where am I now?" She suddenly opens her eyes.

"You're home safe, pumpkin. Nothing to worry about. Close your eyes. Go back to that deep sleep. I have a last question for you. What is your name?"

"Eli… Elizabeth Singer."

Bobby softly smiles. "I'm gonna count backwards from zero to five… At five, you will be totally awake and relaxed… 0… 1… 2… 3… 4… 5…"

She opens her eyes, looking at Dean and Bobby. "Dad?" She jumps in his arms.

"Hey, pumpkin. You came back from far away." He gently says.

.

Sam and Ruby are back at Bobby's place too. The others are telling them what happened during the hypnosis session. Sam is happy to see that Eli is herself again. "And you will never leaving like that ever again! You hear me?" He falsely reprimands her.

"Okay, Dad!"

"So, I suppose Angel Radio girl is gone?" Dean asks her.

"Well, since I woke up, it's true I didn't hear anything yet."

"There was nothing good in it anyways. Better off with that."

"Do you remember anything when you were Anna?"

"It's kinda blurry. You know, when I was her, sometimes, I had those little moments when I realize that I was me again. And I saw where I was and that something was wrong. But a minute later, I was Anna again. Like deep in my brain I knew who I really was, but each time I tried to remember the rest, all went blank again. Weird."

"Next time I see that damn Angel, I will have a good chat with him!" Dean nervously says.

"A quiet talk then, because we still don't know why Castiel did this to her? For what purpose?" Sam adds.

.


End file.
